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Cornell University Library
LF795.A185 T47
A history of Ackworth school during its
3 1924 030 617 512
liliiWiiMi
HISTORY
AcKWORTH School
DURING ITS
PRECEDED BY A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE FORTUNES
OF THE HOUSE WHILST OCCUPIED AS
A FOUNDLING HOSPITAL.
By henry THOMPSON.
WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY HODGSON.
ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY EDMUND EVANS.
PUBLISHED BY
THE CENTENARY COMMITTEE, ACKWORTH SCHOOL,
1879. S:
SAMUEL HARRIS AND CO., 5 BISHOPSGATE ST. WITHOUT,
LONDON.
1 JM'.1'*'^'
Y f; h fi I I .'
B ^770 ^6/
JOHN BELLOWS, PRINTER, GLOUCESTER.
\ \ o
Cist of 3IIu5tratton5.
DRAWN SPECIALLY FOR THIS WORK BY
MARY HODGSON,
(an ackworth scholar.)
ENGRAVED BY
EDMUND EVANS.
Ackworth School, from the Great Garden
Old Elm, Church, Lych-gate, and Village Cross,
High Ackworth
The Seed House and Dial, Great Garden, Ack-
worth School
Car Bridge, River Went, from the Canal Bank,
Great Garden, Ackworth School
View in Went Vale ; Noah's Ark Field, Brocken-
dale
Pontefract Castle
The Inn, Ackworth School
Bracken Hill, Wakefield Road, near Ackworth
Moor Top
The Mill Dam, near the Old Bath, Ackworth
Hemsworth Dam, near Ackworth Moor Top m 309
NOSTELL PkIORY AND LAKE, FROM THE BRIDGE,
Wakefield Road - n 33^
The Old Chalybeate Bath, NEAR Ackworth School i. 345
p-
24
"
65
"
"3
M
145
172
II
208
,,
225
288
The Views are distributed throughout the book irrespective of the descriptive text.
INDEX.
PAGE
PAGE
Abbatt, William
292
Apprentices "on duty" in
Abscond, Four boys
83
" Number Two"
239
II Two boys
130
Architects — Watson
2
Accidents, Fatal
248
II — Lindlay
32
Accounts, First Abstract of ..
48
Arithmetic 151,
279
Ackworth, High
302
Arthington, James, his Hay-
M Low
308
time visits
198
Old Hall
304
Arthington, Robert
31
II Park
304
Artists
314
II Moor Top...
307
Arts, Society of 212, 276,
278
"Gazette"
164
Asphalt on playground
275
11 "Review"
214
Association for the Improve-
II " School Fund" ..
298
ment of the Mind 139, 160,
Actor's opinion *of the Reading
' 133
184, 206, 214, 215, 242,
349
Adjourned General Meeting
Association Library ...
216
abolished
353
Atkins, Thomas
349
" Admission, Bill of"
27
Admission extended to Non
Members
291
Bads worth 7,
309
Advertisement of Sale o:
Baker, John Gilbert
314
Hospital
23
"Banking"
167
Age of the boys
297
Barclay, David
9
Airey, Elizabeth, her marriage
277
" Barnsley Poet "
164
Alexander, Henry, and the
Barnard, Charles, 212, 223,
350
monitorial system
156
Barritt, Thomas
164
Alexander, William, his
Bath at 6 a.m. ...
175
"Brief Catechism"
128
Bath, New Swimming
270
Algebra .. iji, 262, 279,
294
„ The Old... 345.350,
352
Alsop, Robert, founds a
Baths, Tepid 263,
297
Literary Association
139
Batt, Richard
164
' * American Fund "
30
Beacon at Upton
309
Analysis of the Water 258, 259
272
Beds, Single
180
Ankle-boots
350
II Double, abolished
352
"Answering"
128
Bed-room, Additional, for girls
193
Andrews, Frederic
298
"Bed-rollers"
232
"Apartment," The ... 147,
156
Bell-close water supply 155,
257
Apprentice System (Hospital)
9
Beer ... 37, 44, 82, 89, 92,
209
Apprentices, Early arrange-
Bevans, John, his " Christian
ments for
49
Religion"
127
Apprentices, High "class of ...
134
Bible given to each child on
II their Classical
leaving School
126
studies conducted by a
Bible given to each child at
Clergyman ..
134
School
136
Apprentices, Care of the Com-
Bible, Chapter of, read each
mittee towards the
235
morning
128
Apprentices, their gardens ...
235
Bills of Admission
27
VI
INDEX
PAGE
Bills of Admission, Form of 30
Bill of Fare 92
Binns, Dr. Jonathan, Super-
intendent ... ... ... 85
Binns, Dr. Jonathan, his
troubles ... 98, lOl, 109
Binns, Dr. Jonathan, his dis-
cipline ... ... ... 104
Binns, Dr. Jonathan, retires ... 109
,1 II compiles
the " Vocabulary " 166
Binns, Thomas, a Master 46, 71, 83
Birkbeck, Joseph ... 127, 131
" Black Eagle," The 277
Bleakly, Mary 189
"Blocks" for punishment ... 57
Eoadle, Wm. Barnes 314
Boarded Floors 351
" Bondsmen " for good be-
haviour ... ... ... 57
Books, Difficulty in obtaining,
suitable for school use, 93, 95,
103, 104, 179, 193
Books suitable for religious
instruction 128
" Boot and Shoe '' Inn ... 307
Boring for Water ... 258, 271
Botany 277
Bottomley, George ... 349, 350
Bowman, Eliza 124
Boxes examined 350
Boys' shed built 67
Bracken Hill 306
Bradshaw, Thomas ... ... 117
Brady, Henry 134, 146, 173,
184, 188, 189, 348
II George Stewartson ... 314
II Henry Bowman ... 314
Brayley, Edward 249
Bread carriers ... ... ... 232
Breakfasts 93
Breeches, Leathern ... ... 150
Brewin, John ... ... ... 85
"Brief Historical Catechism" 128
Bright, John 206, 323
Broadhead, John ... 184, 199
Bronchocele, its prevalence ... 176
Brown, Maria 351
Brown, Richard ... ... 90
Brown, Thomas 134, 146, 184,
189, 201, 239, 26;, 276, 348
Brown's Foundlings ... ... 10
Buckets, Fire 351
Buck's Lectures 249
"Budget," The 184
Building era ... ... 250, 260
PAGE
Bull, Use of 120
Burlingham, Daniel Catlin ... 216
Burning, Death from ... ... 248
Burton, ■William 350
"Camera Obscura'' .
... 184
Cammage, William ..
• 235, 350
Canal
... 264
Cane, Use of the
... 117
Caps, Boys'
... 181
M Girls' ...
... 219
Carlton ...
... 308
"Castle, Ackworth" .
... 59
Celebrities
.- ... 312
Cellar, Knife-cleaning... ... 227
"Censor," The ... 160, 184
Charges, Adverse ... 50, 78
Chester Hospital ... i, 5, 20
Chilblains, Martyrs to 120
Cholera 196
Clark, Joseph, pays his "footing" 120
Clark, Lucy 207
Clark, William 349
Class arrangements, 40, 75, 191,
201, 224, 252, 254, 262, 291, 296
Classical Studies of the appren-
tices ... 134
" Clatty-sides " ... ... 210
" Clatty-vengeance " ... ... 118
Clock (turret) made for the
School ... ... ... 22
Clock ( turret ) minute - hand
supplied ... ... ... 180
Clock (turret) new one obtained 275
II II belonging to the
Hospital sold ... ... 22
Clothing, Cost of, in 1780 ... 65
I, 1799 ... 92
II II 1836 ... 217
Coaching Days ... ... 33
Coar's Grammar ... ... 104
" Codger Tommy" ... ... 117
Cole, John, the first apprentice 49
Collars (loose) introduced ... 219
Committees, London and
Counti-y, formed ... ... 27
Committees, London and
Country, first met at Ack-
worth... . ... ... 28
Committees, London and
Country, their difference
of opinion on dress ... 38
Committees, London - and
Country, their misunder-
standings ... ... 64, 67
INDEX
PAGE
Committees, London and
Country, a joint visit and
report 138'
Committee, The London, its
first members ... ... 28
Committee, Tlie London, dis-
solved ... ... 27, 353
Committee, The Country, its
first members ... ... 28
Committee, The Country, de-
fends its lady members ... 38
Committee, The Country, its
first report to the Yearly
Meeting ... ... ... 45
Committee, The Country, its
generosity to its officers 47, 85
Committee, The Country, its
care for the future of its
scholars ... ... ... 49
Committee, The Country, re-
plies to mischievous reports 53
Committee, The Country, sits
in the "Courts" ... ... 55
Committee, The Country,
observations on punishments 6g
Committee, The Country, pro-
poses to dissolve the London
Commiltee ... ... ... 79
Committee, The Country, its
expedients for obtaining
scholars ... ... ... 71
Committee, The Country, pre-
sents J. Hipsley, jun., with
an old horse ... ... ... 86
Committee, The Country, its
views on dress ... . . . 1 1 1
Committee, The Country, its
care about reading-books ... 193
Committee, The Country, re-
ports on the satisfactory state
of the School 159, 182, 192
Committee, The Country, its
appeal to parents for more
religious training ... ... 267
Committee, The Country (spe-
cial), to inquire into the dis-
cipline ... ... ... 60
Committee, The Country (spe-
cial), to inspect the general
state of the School ... ... 67
Committee of Economy ... 91
,1 Origin of " Monthly"
and "Quarterly" ... ... io5
Committee to investigate the
causes for the unpopularity
of the Boy.s' School 235
PAGE
Committee (special)for arrange-
ments... ... ... ... 199
Committee-room used as a bed-
room 108
" Compendium of Religious
Instruction" 128
Complaints 50, 82
Conchology ... ... ... 277
Constable, Joseph Miller ... 276
Constant-menders ... ... 234
Copies (writing), J. Donba-
vand's ... ... ... 103
Corporal Punishment 54, 117,
176, 242
Cost of Provisions, Clothing,
&c., in 1780 65
Cost of Provisions, Clothing,
&c., in 1799... ... ... 92
Cost of Provisions, Clothing,
&c., in 1836 217
Cost of Provisions, Clothing,
&c., in 1855 269
Cost of Buildings ... ... 3
Cost of Teaching ... 257, 291
Cotton first used ... ... 114
"Courts," The Masters' ... 54
ri Amusing incident
connected with the .. . ... 55
Cowper's Poems ... ... 179
Cows, number kept ... ... 91
Cricket ... ... ... ... 277
" Culling Seats " ... ... 57
Curriculum of Studies... ... 62
"Dark Ages" 225
Davis, Wm. B. A., examines
the School ... ... ... 278
Davy, Abraham ... ... 286
Davy, Dennis ... ... ... 351
Deane, Henry ... ... ... 1 64
Dear Bread, Days of . . . 87, 96
Death, Causes of ... ... 352
Death-rate 352
Denton, Robert ... ... 200
" Desiderius, Plato" 215
Desks, Mahogany ... ... 351
Diet, 53, 93, 118, 1 75, 195, 294
Dietary Committee ... ... 294
Dimensions of Rooms... 23, 260
DiningArrangements, Teachers' 294
Dining-room, Girls' New . . . 228
Diphtheria 287, 347
Discouragements, Early 50, 53
" Disgracing," an early punish-
ment ... ... ... ... 57
viii
INDEX
PAGE
PA'GE
Discipline, State of the 54, 56,
Education, State of, amongst
58, 59. 67, 74, 139, 144, 147.
the Girls 261
i52> 153. 154. 182, 203, 204,
Education,, State of, amongst
225, 23s, 237, 239, 243, 254,
the Boys 261
269,
281
Education, Thos. Pumphrey's
Doeg, William 139,
146
theory of 268
ir II his Engraving
Education, , State of, in the
of the School
146
School 218, 268
Doeg, William, his List of the
Education, its influence ... 312
Scholars
W
Elhs, John, of Gildersome ... 26
Doeg, Robert 201, 202, 209,
Ellis, Mrs. 315
212, 223,
350
Engine-pumping 259
Domestic Reforms
219
EngUsh History 150
Domestic Work, Employment
" English Reader, The " ... 95
of girls in
67
Entomology 277
Donati's Comet
277
Entrance, The Old :?23
Donations, Early
29
" Eo ad Pontefractutn " ... 1 7 1
Donbavand, Joseph 35, 115,
E^gsay Society 277
116, 147,
156
Euclid ... 262, 279, 294, 351 •
11 „ his Copies
103
Evans, Josiah 295, 298
M John 115, 116,
166
Evens, Samuel — 115
II 11 drawnforthe
" Evenings at Home " ... 179
Militia and imprisoned 129,
130
Examinations, Mode of con-
Donbavand, John King
213
ducting 122, 151, 249, 278
Door-keepers
232
Examinations, Special, of boys
Double-beds abolished
352
leaving School 192
Downie, Matthevi', the old gar-
Examinations, Written, intro-
dener 156,
349
duced 249
Drains, State of the 75, 264, 293, 350
Examinations, by Wm. Davis,
Drawing encouraged
124
B.A 278
Dress of the Foundlings
7
Examinations, by Walton &
11 that of the Scholars 43,
Morley 293
45, no, 177, 1,78,
i8i
Examinations of Boxes ... 350
II Opinion of the two Com-
Exhibitions of the Society of
mittees upon 38
45
Arts 212, 276
DrilUng introduced
352
Exhibitions, Horticultural ... 211
Drinking Fountain
271
Expelled, Boys 119, 130, 204
Dudley, Charlotte
152
Eyebright, Robert 215
II Robert, his visit and
impressions
43
Duke of Gloucester visits the
Falsehood ... 58, 140, 183
School
165
II Penalties for ... 183
Dumbleton, Hannah 99,
123
Fancy-work for sale 177
Mary, dies
188
Fare, Bill of ,. 92
" Dutch Kite," The
277
Farm, Model of a ... ... 119
II Work on the 120
Rental of the 129
East Hardwick
308
II Profit on the 129
"Echo, The"
215
„ How occupied, &c. ... 200
Economy, Committee of
91
Farmer's House, a new one ... 270
Education in the Society of
Farrand, Joseph S 214
Friends
24
Farrer, Hannah, dies 188
Education, State of, amongst
Fatal Accidents 248
the youngest children
94
Fessant, Sarah 207
Education, State of, in the
Fever, Scarlet 107, 221, 223,
School
152
229, 263, 293, 298
•
INDEX
ix
PAGE
PAGE
Fever, Typhus... i66, i86,
193
Girls, "Officers'-
233
Finance ... 256, 270, 290,
291
II state of their Education
261
Pirst Master
35
Gloucester, Visit of the Duke
ri Superintendent
36
of
165
II Governess
35
Goldsmith, Joseph, Samuel,
II Pupils ... ... 32,
36
and Isaac
286
M Apprentice
49
Goouch, Benjamin B. A.
296
11 farm Stevi'ard
44
Goodwin, Samuel
44
II Latin Class
173
Governesses, Hannah Reay ...
35
11 II II Its books ..".
174
II Miss Hill
^36
Firth, Thomas
23s
11 Mary Martin ...
107
II II his recollec-
II Isabella Harris...
107
tions 115,
117
II Catharine Naish
175
Five-class arrangement
295
II Priscilla Kincey
"Flags" The
84
175.
217
Flannel- vests introduced
181
II Hannah Richard-
Flogging 176,
242
son 217,
253
Flour, Price and consumption
Governesses, Jane Oddie
253
of
270
II Mary Ann Spe-
Food, Complaints against
53
ciall 253,
293
" Footing," Committee-men
Governesses, Rachel Elizabeth
pay
120
Stone...
293
Ford, John 250,
284
Government of the School
27
Fothergill, Dr 26,
29
Governors of the Hospital,
II Ann ... 29,
30
their zeal, objects, and aims
2
Freeman, John... 202, 218,
223
Graham, John ...
352
Freeston's Lectures
249
II Robert ... 198,
200
French 253, 262,
294
Grammar, The Schools' own
II Limited teaching of.
104
in early times
76
Garden, The Great
308
Grammar, Proficiency iri 104,
II Boys' work in
66
151. 279>
293
Shed
157
Great Garden
30S
Gardens, The Apprentices' . . .
235
Greenbank, Professor
259
11 The Boys' 119, 209,
212
GuUey, John, M.P
304
Gas, Introduction of
220
Gurney, Joseph John 135, 137,
II Works reconstructed
353
150, 177, 206, 245, 350>
351
Gates, Barton and Ann, the
Gurney, Samuel, his dnnking
first pupils
36
fountain
271
"Gazette" 164,
184
Gurney 's Hymns
179
General Meeting instituted ,27,
170
Gymnasium
352
II II Stimulus to...
152
11 11 Holiday prior
'
to the
170
Hardwick, East
308
General Meeting, A Lady's re-
Hare, Samuel 249,
350
collections of the
176
Hargreaves, John, Hospital
General Meeting omitted
263
Steward
4
Geography 103,114,218, 279,
293
Harris, Isabella, Governess, 107
Giberne, Charlotte E.
349
174, 175.
191
Gildersome School
29
Harris, Isabella, jun., her
Gill, Samuel, Marriage of
277
reading and her general
Girls' School, Popularityof 218,
228
influence
133
Girls' Wing, Disturbed state of
191
Harrison, James
198
,1 II Re-arrangement of
Harvey, Thomas, his essays . . .
164
classes in ... 192, 261,
296
„ II his Recol-
Girls' Wing, enlarged 193, 228,
260
lections
175
; N n E X
Haslam, Thomas
Hattersley, John, M.A.
PAGE
254. 255
... 160
his
verses on skipping 161
Hattersley, John, M.A., his
after career ... ... ... 162
Hattersley, Thomas 185
Hattersley, William :3i
Hawley, Henry, and the Moni-
torial School 156, 184
Hawley, Henry, goes to Raw-
don School ... ... ... 195
Hay-making 66
Health, • Influence of Weather
upon ... ... ... ... 344
Health, Relative, of Boys and
Girls 346
Health, at various periods ... 346
Hemsworth 7, 310
Hertford Monthly Meeting, its
charges against the School ... S3
Hessle Green '73, 3°$
Hewitson, Wm. 271
Hill, John, the first Superin-
tendent ... ... ... 36
Hill, John, his difificulties ... 52
II 11 his failing health 71
„ II retires 73
Hipsley, John, Superintendent 74
M I, restores the dis-
cipline ... ... ... 75
Hipsley, John, his right to sit
with the Committee assailed 80
Hipsley, John, retires 85
IP II jun. , a present
from the Committee of an
old horse ... ... ... 86
Hipsley, John, jun., his ac-
count of the years of scarcity 96
Hird, Sarah 38
History 150,218,279,293
Hobson, Dr 193
Hockey... .'. 278
Hodgkin, Thomas, a Master 46
II II his baby 73
II „ supplies
John Hill's place temporarily 73
Holiday, A whole day's ... 170
Holidays 46, 219
,1 ^ Teachers' ... 227, 247
II Annual, considered 246
II II thought in-
expedient ... ... ... 179
Holidays, First Annual ... 255
„ Christmas ... ... 297
Horticultural Society 209, 212, 214
PAGE
Houndhill Hall 308
House-keeper's Room ... 98
House Steward, Office of,
created 296
Houses erected ... ... 251'
Howard, Luke, F.R.S., Boys'
visit to ... ... ... 168
Howard, Luke, F.R.S., his
account of J. Donbavand's
imprisonment ... ... 120
Howard, Luke, F.R.S., assists
in time of fever ... ... 191
Howard, Luke, F.R.S., "The
Old Potecary" 191
Howard, Luke, F.R.S., Anec-
dote of 195
Howard, Luke, F.R.S., pre-
sides at Celebration of the
Liberation of the Slave ... 260
Howitt, William, his Recollec-
tions 116
Howitt, William, his descrip-
tion of a walk ... ... 172
Howitt, William, his career ... 328
Hunton, Thomas, 185, 195, 212,
214. 349
Hustler, Christiana 38
Hymn Book, The Foundlings' 13
Ignorance amongst new comers 147
Ilkley, Foundlings go to ... 20
Imprisonment of John Donba-
vand... ... 129
Income and Disbursements,
Table of Annual, from 1779 338
Inn, The School 200, 208 209
Investments a source of moral
anxiety ... ... ... 106
Jews, A present from three ... 286
Johnson, William, a patron of
the Society of Arts .. . ... 213
Jones, James, gardener 210, 352
" Judge Parker " ... ... 119
" Juvenile Association" ... 349
Kekwick, James ... ... 351
Kendal School... ... ... 25
II ■ „ specimen of a
School-bill •■ 25
Kincey, Priscilla, Governess,
191, 192, 217
King, Henry 134, 147
INDEX
PAGE
King, Maria 352, bis.
Kitchen, new cooking appara-
tus 166
Kitching, Alfred ... 214, 215
Kites 106, 277
Knife-cleaning... ... ... 227
Knitting, Boys taught 61
II Excess of 102
Lancashire and Cheshire, Defi-
ciency of Subscriptions from 292
Lancaster, Joseph ... 114, 155
Lancastrian System, 114, 155,
202, 208, 223
Land-tax, Difficulties connected
with the 107
Latchmore, Edward 213
Latin Class, 135, 173, 201,
262, 279, 294
Laundry, Great improvements
in the... ... ... ... 294
Lavatory arrangements 180, 181
Lavatories, New ... ... 297
Leathern breeches ... 43, 150
Lectures ... ... 243, 249
Lee, Dr. Timothy ... 2, 5, g, 18
Leisure-time, Arrangements for 124
Leprosy, A case of ... ... 75
Letters, Cost of in the olden time 1 78
Levitt, Isaac ... ... ... 349
" Liar, " A Badge for a ... 183
Liberation of the Slave cele-
brated ... ... ... 206
Ijibrary, none in early times ... 95
II established ... ... 95
II enlarged ... ... 126
II The Boys' 262
II The Association ... 216
License withdrawn from the
Hotel 209
Light and Airy Rooms suggested 141
11 II II described 142
II 11 11 First boy
incarcerated in the ... ... 143
Light and Airy Rooms, A boy
confined in, .night and day . . . 242
Light and Airy Rooms demol-
ished ... ... ... ... 252
Lindley Murray 95, 103, 104, 128
„ Wm., Architect of the
Old Meeting House 32
Linney, Albert 296
II Geo. Frederic ... 349
Lister, Thomas, "TheBarnsley
Poet" 164, 2o5
PAGE
Literary and Scientific Associ-
ation ... ... ... ■•• 351
Literature, A taste cultivated for 179
Loan obtained from York Re-
treat ... 291
" Lob-scouse'' 118
Lodge-keepers... ... ... 232
Lomax, George, an early mas-
ter 36
Love affair ... ... ... 100
Low Ackworth... ... ... 308
Lowther, Sir James ... ... 15
Lying 58, 140, 183
II Penalties for ... ... 18;
Manufactory, Woollen, in the
Hospital ... ... ... 7
Martin, Mary, Governess ... 107
"Master Joseph" ... ... ii6
"Master on Duty," Office insti-
tuted ... ... ... ... 201
Masters, their "Courts" ... 154
II their Monthly Meet-
ings ... 61
Masters, Superior staff of ... 159
Mason William ... ... 351
Mathematics ... ... ... 261
May, Edward ... ... ,..215
Measles I2i, 155, 220, 222,
223, 287
Meat, Consumption of ... 92
II diet improved ... ... 195
II how supplied ... ... 198
II Contracts for ... 200, 257
11 Increased price of ... 290
Meeting House provided ... 31
II II its attractions
for the idle ... ... ... 119
Meetmg House, discomfort in
cold weather ... ... 121
Meeting House forms pro-
vided with backs ... ... 180
Meeting House floor boarded. . . 180
II II new one erected 251
II „ used for "par-
ties" 280, 283
Mensuration ... ... ... 294
Mental Calculation ... ... 279
Meslin 92, 121
Milk, amount used in 1797 ... 90
Mill purchased ... ... 352
Miller, William Allen 185, 243, 314
Mischievous Reports ... ... 53
" Mistress on Duty " ... ... 351
Mistresses, their Salaries ... 112
INDEX
PAGE
Misunderstandings between the
Committees 64, 77
Model of a Farm 119
Moline Sparks, Treasurer ... 348
Monitorial System (Lancaster's)
IS5. i9i> 201, 223, 224
Monitors 49, 113, 148, 244, 245
* rr their duties... ... 147
Monthly Committee, Origin of
the 106
Morning Bible Reading ... 128
" Morning Meeting" The ... 127
Morley, James and John ... 164
" John 349
Mortality amongst the Found-
lings 17
Mortality, Rate of, amongst the
Scholars 222, 346
Murray, Dr., lectures... ... 249
Murray, Lindley 95, 103, 104, 128
If I, his opinion of
Isabella Harris's Reading ... 133
" Mutual Correspondent, The " 184
Naftel, Paul J., the Artist ... 314
Nash, Robert ... ... ... 164
Nasturtium leaves used as a
condiment ... ... ... 211
Navy Bonds ... ... ... 30
Neave, Henry Reynolds, his
Death ... ... .. 248
Needle-work of 1821 157
II good ... ... 261
New'by, John, 184, 201, 212,
213, 214, 223, 239, 243,
250, 251, 252, 288, 349, 351
Nick-names ... ... ... 155
Nield, John Cash 349
Night-shirts introduced ... 181
Non-members admitted ... 291
Nostell Priory ... 303, 305, 310
Number of Foundlings ... 21
Number of Children fixed at
three hundred 37
Number of Boys small ... 236
M Children small ... 290
"Number Two" ... ... 239
Nurseries erected ... ... 166
Nurses, Hospital 5, 7
Oak, A fine
Oddie, Jane
Office garden
II robbed
350
253
244
349
PAGE
" Offices " withdrawn as a
punishment 57
" Offices " performed by the
children 231
"Offices," Time employed in
performance of the ... ... 233
Oil lamps ... ... ... 220
Old Hall, Ackworth 304
II M at East Hardwick . . . 308
Opening of the School ... 36
Opinions, Adverse ... ... 50
"Orderly Class," The ... 244
Out-door labour ... ... 66
Overend, Dr. ... ... ... 193
Oxley and Muscroft, Medical
Advisers ... ... ... 193
Palmer, Edward ... 207, 215
II Lydia, Governess ... 174
Parker, Charles ... 109, l2o
" Parker, Judge " ... ... 119
II William Coor 207, 277
Parlour- waiters ... ... 234
' ' Party, " Thomas Pumphrey 's 279
II 11 II another 283
Patching, Robert William ... 164
Payne, John William ... ... 212
II Isaac apprenticed ... 85
11 William 166
Pease, Edward... ... ... 127
" Joseph 294, 352
Peirson, Daniel ... ... 214
Penney, Harrison ... ... 297
Penny Notes ... ... ... 352
Penny Postage... ... ... 350
Permission to leave the premises
disallowed ... ... ... 46
Pewter Dishes 118
Phonography ... ... ... 277
" Picking- wicks " 66,220, 350
Pilfering 184
Pillow-fights .'. 183
Pinafores, Boys' 219
" Pious" 205
Planting trees, Practice of ... 123
Play -ground asphalted ... 275
Pollard, William ... ... 352
Pontefract ... ... 7, 96
II Castle ... ... 172
11 Market in 1795 •■■ 96
11 Monthly Meeting-
holiday ., 170
Pontefract Monthly Meeting,
Mode of choosing boys to
attend the 171
INDEX
I'AGE
Popularity of the Girls' School 236
Prices of Provisions in 1780 ... 65
II M 1855 ... 269
Prince of Wales, his marriage 287
" Principles of Religion," by
Tuke, given to each child ... 126
Prizes ... ... ... ... 167
11 Mode of distribution ... 168
Pronunciation, Cultivation of
correct ... ... ... 145
Proud, Mary 38
Provisions, Prices of, in 1780 65
II M If 1855 269
Pumphrey, Thomas, Superinten-
dent, his duties . ... 200
Pumphrey, Thomas, assumes
his post . . ... . . 203
Pumphrey, Thomas, his early
difficulties ... ... ... 207
Pumphrey, Thomas, his favour
tovi^ards holidays ... ... 219
Pumphrey, Thomas, his trials 229
11 II improves
the discipline ... ... 245
Pumphrey, Thomas, supports
annual vacations ... ... 247
Pumphrey, Thomas, his report
on Bible instruction ... 265
Pumphrey, Thomas, his theory
of Education ... ... 268
Pumphrey, Thomas, his health
fails 279
Pumphrey, Thomas, his great
treat in the Meeting-house 279
Pumphrey, Thomas, resigns ... 281
Pumphrey, Thomas, Commit-
tee's minute on the event . . . 282
Pumphrey, Thomas, his retir-
ing fete 283
Pumphrey, Thomas, lives at the
bottom of the garden ... 284
Pumphrey, Thomas, his death 284
Pumphrey, Thomas, his
' ' Scenes in the Play-ground " 353
Pumphrey, Rachel, Death of.. 229
Pumping Engine ... ... 259
n M new one ... 2,71
Punishments ... ... ... 40
11 Corporal 54, 55,
176, 242
It Various methods
of 56
Punishments by " disgracing " 57
Punishments, Observations
upon, by the Committee ... 69
Punishments in "Number Two" 239
Purston Jacklin
"Quicksight, Isaac''
PAGE
... 304
211, 215
Radish, Cultivation of the 211
Rag, Tag, and Bobtail ... 33
Rainfall 344
" Rash Judgment," Extract
from Masters' minutes upon 205
Rawdon School opens ... 195
Reading Masters ... 40, 146
II Schools (girls') ... 192
It Books for class work
, , . 62, 93, 103
11 for leisure ... 62, 93
11 The, vmsatisfactory 131
II M Character of ... 132
It II of the girls ... 133
, II It of Isabella Har-
ris, jun. ... ... ... 133
Reading, The, Teaching of ... 145
^ II M Story of "Ris-
ing Cadence " ... ... 132
Reading, The state of the 147
151, 152, 218, 259, 261, 278, 293
Reading-room constructed ... 229
Reading, First-day Evening 229, 266
Reay, Hannah, Governess 35, 36
Recollections, Thomas Harvey 's 175
II Rebecca , Thurs-
field's 176
Recollections, Thomas Firth's 115
" Record of Offences " ... 139
Reafern, Richard ... ... 314
" Reference Meetings " ... 150
Reforms, Domestic ... ... 219
Religious Instruction 126, 135,
147, 149, 182, 300, 265
Reports, Mischievous... 53, 78
Rewards ... ... .141, 167
II Mode of distributing 168
Rheumatism, Greater preva-
lence of, in recent times ... 347
Rice, Use of, in the dear years 98
Richardson, Hannah, Gover-
ness ... 217, 228, 236, 253
Ricliardson, Wm., lectures ... 249
" Rising Cadence " ... ... 132
Robinson, Christopher ... 214
Rod, Use of the ... ... 141
Rolfe, Elizabeth, an old
Foundling ... ... ... 349
Rooks build in the Elms at the
garden gate ... ... ... 352
Rous, Lydia ... ... ■•. 3Si
; N D EX
PAGE
Routh, Samuel, and the Inn
License 209
Rowntree, John 235
Rowntree, Joseph ... 235, 278
Runaways 83, 130
Salaries 66, 257, 29 1
ir Early Servants' ... 44
II M Officers' ... 47
M of the Mistresses ... 112
Salary of the first Master ... 35
Sams, Joseph ... 115, 116
Sanders, George 127
Sanders, Wm 215
Satterthwaite, Geo. and Rachel
282, 287, 294
Scarcity, The 87, 96
Scarlatina, 107, 221, 223, 229,
263, 293, 298
"Scenes in the Play-ground" 353
School at Gildersome .. . ... 36
II II Kendal ... ... 25
II M Sowerby ... ... 25
II II Books 95, 103, 104,
179, 193
II opened... ... ... 36
II its government... ... 27
II its general condition in
1817 138
School, Best Engraving of the 307
School -room. The first used by
the boys ... ... ... 37
School-rooms, Cubic content of
the 266
Scripture Instruction 176, 2i8, 266
Seeds, Distribution of ... 210
" Seed-time and Harvest " ... 334
"Sequel, The" 103
" Serious Boys " ... ... 118
Sewell, Joseph Stickney 224, 239
II William 212, 230, 239
Sewing 103
Shed built 67
Shed in the boys' gardens
built 157
Shillitoe, Thomas 178
11 M censures the
new cap ... ... ... 181
Shoe-cleaning 232
Sholl, James, his journey to
School 34
Shrewsbury I, 5
Sim, William Fisher 206
Single beds ... ... ... 180
Singleton, William ... 115, 116
PAGE
Skipping 161
Slaves, Liberation Commemo-
ration... ... ... ... 206
Small-pox 51, 75, no, 121, 346
11 Rule in reference to 52
Smeaton, John... ... ... 3
Smith, Bartholomew ... ... 276
11 Henry Ecroyd 215, 216
II Till Adam 350
II William, sends advice
on the value of time ... 125
Smithson, Thomas ... ... 243
"Smugglers"... ... ... 278
Snowdon, Mrs. ... ... 141
Society of Arts... 212,276, 278
" Solid Benjamin '' ... ... 215
Sowerby, School at ... ... 25
Sparkes, Henry, his survey of
the estate 351
Speciall, Mary Ann, Gover-
ness ... 253, 233
Spence, Joseph, his analysis of
the water 258, 259
Spelling ... 151, 278, 293
II amongst the girls ... 102
II by dictation intro-
duced... ... ... ... 115
Spelling-book used on First
Days 348
"Spice-money" ... ... 141
Spinning ... 40, 102, 147
Squire, Sarah Ann ... ... 191
" Stag- warning " ... ... 353
Stansfield, John ... ... 214
II Thomas ... 207
Steam as a heating medium ... 221
Steward of the Hospital ... 4
Stickney, Mennel ... ... 248
II Sarah (Mrs. Ellis) ... 315
Stone, Rachel Elizabeth, Go-
verness ... ... ... 293
Sttata pierced in boring for
water 258, 271
Subscriptions, Appeals for
larger 72, 88, 122, 292
Supeiintendent, Election of 28, 36
Superintendent, Question of
salary or no salary ... ... 80
Superintendent, Duties of the
200, 295
Superintendent, Duties of, re-
arranged ... ... ... 295
Survey of estate ... ■ • • 35 1
Swimming Bath 270
11 II Improved
water supply for the ... 272
INDEX
Table-cloths . . .
Tailoring
Taylor, John ...
II Joseph...
II William
Teachers, Early
PAGE
219, 351
... 92
... 215
... 214
... 214
35
of the
Teaching, Increased cost of 257, 291
Tea-party in the Meeting-house
280, 283
" Telegraph, The " ... 211, 214
Ten-class system (bovs') ... 252
11 M (girls') ... 260
Tenth Class, New School-room
for 264
Tepid Baths ... ... 263, 297
Terms, Proposal to raise the 8, 97
Terms, raised 90, 256, 257, 291 bis.
David Barclay's opinion
90
Terms, Richard Brown's opi-
nion of the ... ... ... 90
Thistlethwaite, William 252, 254
Thomson's "Seasons" ... 179
Thorp, Dr 188
"Thorough-cleaning" ... 121
Thursfield, Rebecca, her re-
collections ... ... 176, 190
Ticket system ... ... 167, 225
ti M Operation of the 226
Tjmber, Sale of ... ... 349
Time, Curious advice on the
value of ... ... ... 125
Tin, The Age of 118
Towels, none at the balh ... 175
Travelling, Perils of ... ... 33
II in the Hospital days 5
II Cost of, in the Hos-
pital days ... ... ... 6
Travelling, James ShoU's expe-
rience of ... ... ... 34
Travelling expenses allowed 32, 256
Trencher, Wooden ... iiS, 181
Trough, The common washing 180
"Tugging" 20s
Tuke, Esther ... ... 38
II Henry, his "Principles" 126
II II his services ... 127
II James Hack, and written
examinations ... ... 250
Tuke, Samuel 127, 235
II 11 his Papers on
Education ... ... ... 23
Typhus Fever ... 166, 186, 193
Unpopularity of the Boys'
School ... ... ... 235
Upton Beacon . . .
PAGE
•• 309
Vacations, Early 46
„ deemed inexpedient 179
11 one granted to
Edward Latchmore 179
Vacations, Annual, considered 246
11 First general vaca-
,/'™. 255
Vacations, Proposal for one of
six weeks 269
Vacations, Occasional special 219
II Christmas ... ... 297
Ventilation ... ... 221, 222
View of the School by William
Doeg... .. 146
" Villa " Visit to the 168
Village-green ... ... ... 303
11 Story of its Cross 303
"Vocabulary" ... ... i66
,, used on First
Days ... ... ... ... 348
Wages of Workmen ... ... 5
II Servants 44, 47, 76, 112
Waiters..., ... ... 229, 231
II Tailor's and Shoe-
maker's ... ... ...231
Walks, The ... ... ... 302
II by Schools, introduced 350
II to Plessle-green ... 172
Walker, John ... ... ... 349
Walton and Morley's Examina-
tion ... ... ... ... 293
Warming of School-rooms im-
perfect 120
Warming of School -rooms.
Steam adopted for ... ..120
Warming of School-rooms, Hot
water for ... ... 223
Warming the Meeting House... I2i
" Wars of the Roses " ... 183
Washing-mill erected ... ... 123
II II improved ... 294
Washers ... ... ... 231
Water-supply ... 3, 155, 257, 271
II works, cost of ... ... 259
II II extension of ... 271
11 Closets introduced ... 264
Watson, the Architect 2
II W. ].... 277, 290
Weeding the Green ... ... 170
Went-bridge, Scotch Cattle at 198
11 River ... ... ... 309
xvi
INDEX
PAGE
PAGE
Went Vale . ...
309
Whitaker, Hannah, Committee's
West, Edward
246
estimate of 196
M Leonard
349
White, Dr 17
11 Theodore
297
Whitlark', John, the oldest
Westerham
I, 5
scholar living ... ■ ■ 348
Wetherald, William
207
"Wick-picking" ... 66, 220
Wheeler, Edmund
351
Wiffin, Benjamin B 328
Whitaker, Robert, enters as
„ Jeremiah Holmes ... 325
book-keeper
86
Williams, Dr., his report on
Whitaker, Robert, his early life
86
Sanitary matters 222
„ „ refusesdona-
Williamson, Dr., his report
tions ...
108
on Ventilation 221
Whitaker, Robert, performs the
Williamson's account of Revel
Superintendent's duties
109
the foundling ... ... 16
Whitaker, Robert, becomes
Wilson, Henry 180, 213, 254,
Superintendent
no
255, 262, 276, 282, 350, bis.
Whitaker, Robert, his success
Wilson, Walter 33
115, 122,
138
Rt. Hon. James, his
W^hi taker, Robert, marries ...
123
career 316
i. „ over-worked
131
Winns, The, of Nostell ... 310
ir „ his success-
Winn, Sir Rowland 2, 8
ful training of teachers
134
Wooden trencher 181
Whitaker, Robert, his garden-
Workshop established... ... 219
shed
156
II improved ... ... 278
Whitaker, Robert, Treasurer
Woollen manufactory in the
of the Association
160
Hospital 7
Whitaker, Robert, his report
Wragby 7, 311
of the fever . .
188
"Wreath, The" 179
Whitaker, Robert, ill
196
Wright, James... ... ... 164
„ „ resigns
197
Writing-masters ... ... 40
ri IP his habits
197
Writing, The ... 103, 278, 293
M Ti assists Thos.
Written Examinations intro-
Pumphrey
231
duced 249 •
Whitaker, Robert, TI105. Har-
vey's Recollections of
175
Whitaker, Robert, takes charge
Yearly Meeting ... 23, 26
of the School during Thos.
IP ,1 its appeal for
Pumphrey's absence
350
more liberal subscriptions ... 88
Whitaker, Hannah, ill of fever
188
York Retreat, Loan from ... 291
PI „ dies at
Young's " Night Thoughts" ... 179
Welchpool
196
•
PREFACE
This work — written at the request of the Committee which
was constituted for the purpose of promoting a suitable cele-
bration of the Centennial Anniversary of the opening of the
School, the portrayal of whose history has been attempted in
its pages — has been prepared solely with the view of supplying
to old scholars some account of an institution whose career is
interesting to all, and dear to the affections of many of them.
It may perhaps, also, prove of some minor interest to other
members of the Society to which the School belongs ; but to
all beyond this larger circle its pages will be caviare. Writing
for a special class, I have pre-supposed that almost every little
historical incident that could be wrested from the grasp of a
past, some of whose years are fast retiring into a dim distance,
might have an interest for it. I trust I may not have presumed
too much upon its appetite for trifles.
To those loyal hearts, one of whose choice delights is to sit
by the evening fire-side with an old and sympathetic school-
fellow, whilst reminiscences innumerable — grave and gay,
humorous and tragical — absorb the unconscious hours, and
youth is once more realized, without its pains and with more
than its proper poetry, I am painfully conscious that this little
XVlll
PREFACE
work can be little more than a new frame to their old pictures.
Its pages do not contain their stories, they do not laugh with
their fun ; yet I trust their local colouring will rather excite than
check the happiness with which a retrospect of their school-days
is wont to fill warm-hearted and kindly spirits. If the latter
miss much which they hope to find and, regretting the absence
of oft-told tales which time has improved and imagination
gilded, should feel as if much of a good story had been with-
held—
"As if a child in glee,
Catching the flakes of the salt sea froth,
Cried ' Look, my mother, here's the sea' " —
I have to beg them to consider that this little work is simply a
history— perhaps all too grave a history — of the chief events
and incidents which have guided or influenced the fortunes
of the little Cosmos and that, with the space at my disposal, I
could not have dealt with much of that great mass of common
property — the semi-mythical reminiscences of generations — even
had I had time to test its value or probe the measure of its
veracity. I may remind my readers, also, that the finest school
episodes are those whose most aromatic quality is derived from
personal association. Every old scholar has his own history of
Ackworth School with which the stranger intermeddleth not.
Other of my readers may admire at my silence respecting
great patrons of the School — men and women who have made
its successful operation not only a labour of love, but one of the
great efforts of their benevolent lives — whose devotion to its
interests has been amongst the great facts of its career. That
PREFACE XIX
silence has arisen neither from lack of appreciation of their
work nor indifference to the justice of a recognition of their
claims. When I have considered this question, the array of
names which has fronted up to my view — the Gurneys, Tukes,
Smiths, Peases, Rowntrees, Barclays, Braithwaites, Harveys,
Birkbecks, Priestmans, Hutchinsons, Richardsons, Robsons,
Thorps, Smithsons, Spences, and a host of others who, in
their generations, have been the active support of the Institu-
tion — has presented such ' an embarras de richesses, that I have
been fain to shelve it, in the hope that some more adven-
turous spirit might be willing to expend upon it the research
necessary to the performance of justice to the various benefac-
tions of these friends of the School. To the great and good
man whose happiness it was to discover Ack worth School, so to
speak, I should have endeavoured to devote some pages but
that the appearance, in a companion volume, of an elaborate
and valuable paper upon his life and work, by James Hack
Tuke, has rendered any notice of him unnecessary in this.
The Illustrations which embellish this volume, and which are
after water-colour drawings made expressly for the work by
Mary Hodgson, an old Ackworth Scholar, were executed some
time after the MS. was in the printer's hand. This circum-
stance has rendered it necessary that they should be distributed
in the volume without reference to the proximity of kindred
matter in the text. The Artist's first desire has been to present
a faithful portrait of the scenes depicted, and she has, with self-
denying fidelity, abstained from tampering with the views in
favour of pictorial effect; whilst her brother (Joseph Spence
A 2
ICX PREFACE
Hodgson), who has superintended the work of the Engraver,
has scrupulously exacted a like fidelity from him. I feel it no
small honour to have this little history associated with such
excellent work, and desire to acknowledge my obligations to
Edmund Evans for his able efforts to render every justice which
his art commands to the original drawings.
I take this opportunity to return my warm thanks to all who
have assisted me in the preparation of the work. Whilst such
friends are too numerous to particularise, I cannot omit a
public acknowledgment of my indebtedness to my friend
Joseph Spence Hodgson, of Manchester — than whom, perhaps,
no one living has taken a warmer interest in all that pertains to
the past history of the School — who has kindly given me every
aid in his power, most liberally and generously placing all his
MSS. at my service.
I would also thank John Bellows, of Gloucester, in whose
office the work has been printed, for the care he has taken in
his department of the work. It is a satisfaction to me to
think that, however soon the History may become valueless, the
owners of the volume will still possess a typographical treasure.
In deference to the sentiments of some of the Friends of the
Centenary Committee, and in opposition to my own taste, I
have retained the terminology of the days and months once all
but universal amongst members of the Society of Friends.
HENRY THOMPSON.
Arnside, near Milnthorpe.
CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER I.
'hospitium infantum expositorum"
Page 1
CHAPTER II.
HOSPITAL PURCHASED BY THE FRIENDS — FORM OF GOVERNMENT —
BILLS OF ADMISSION — ALLOWANCE FOR TRAVELLING EXPENSES — ^JOHN
HILL, THE FIRST SUPERINTENDENT — BARTON AND ANN GATES, THE
FIRST PUPILS — ^JOSEPH DONBAVAND — RAPID INCREASE OF SCHOLARS —
RULES AND REGULATIONS — COSTUME — PIALCYON DAYS — ACTIVITY OF
THE COMMITTEE — DIFFICULTIES — THOMAS BINNS— JOHN HODGKIN —
GENEROSITY TOWARDS OFFICERS — ABSTRACT OF EARLY ACCOUNTS —
JOHN COLE, THE FIRST APPRENTICE — DISQUIETING REPORTS —
SMALL-POX — MORE TROUBLES — DISCIPLINE AND MODES OF PUNISH-
MENT Page 23
CHAPTER III.
committees' MISUNDERSTANDINGS — EARLY EXPENDITURE, COST OF
PROVISIONS, ETC. — OUT-DOOR LABOUR — ERECTION OF THE BOYs'
SHED — DECLENSION IN THE DISCIPLINE AND TEMPORARY DECREASE
IN THE NUMBER OF THE SCHOLARS — PROPOSALS FOR EXTENDING
THE AREA FKOM WHICH CHILDREN SHOULD BE RECEIVED — RETIRE-
MENT OF JOHN HILL — TEMPORARY OCCUPATION OF THE TREASURER'S
OFFICE BY THOMAS HODGKIN — ELECTION OF JOHN HIPSLEY AS
SUPERINTENDENT — LIBERALITY TOWARDS SERVANTS — KATE OF
WAGES — WANT OF HARMONY BETWEEN THE TWO COMMITTEES
Page 64
CHAPTER IV.
THE "flags" — ^JOHN HIPSLEY RETIRES — IS SUCCEEDED BY DR. BINNS —
DONATIONS TO RETIRING OFFICERS — ROBERT WHITAKER ENTERS AS
"book-keeper and ASSISTANT IN THE SCHOOLS" — DEFICIENT
INCOME— HIGH PRICE OF FOOD — TERMS RAISED — OPINIONS THERE-
UPON — A COMMITTEE OF ECONOMY AND ITS SUGGESTIONS — BILL OF
FARE — SCARCITY OF READING-BOOKS — A LIBRARY FOUNDED — YEARS
OF DEAR BREAD — SOCIAL DIFFICULTIES AMONGST OFFICERS... Page 84
XXll
CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS
CHAPTER V.
SPINNING, KNITTING, SEWING— READING-BOOKS— GEOGRAPHY— JOSEPH
DONBAVAND's WRITING COPIES — GRAMMAR — THE AGE OF LAW —
MONTHLY AND QUARTERLY COMMITTEES — DIFFICULTY ABOUT IN-
VESTMENTS—THE GOVERNESS, MARY MARTIN, RETIRES— IS SUC-
CEEDED BY ISABELLA HARRIS — SERIOUS EPIDEMIC OF SCARLET
FEVER— DR. BINNS'S DIFFICULTIES WITH THE COMMITTEE— HE RE-
TIRES— IS SUCCEEDED BY ROBERT WHITAKER— SMALL-POX— GARB OF
THE CHILDREN— REVISION OF THE MISTRESSES' SALARIES... Page 102
CHAPTER VI.
MONITORS— JOSEPH LANCASTER — IMPROVED STATE OF THE SCHOOL
UNDER ROBERT WHITAKER— REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS FIRTH OF
HUDDERSFIELD — INSUFFICIENT PROVISION AGAINST INCLEMENT
WEATHER— EXAMINATIONS— ROBERT WHITAKER's MARRIAGE— WASHING
MILL— PLANTING— ARRANGEMENTS FOR LEISURE PURSUITS— RELIGI-
OUS INSTRUCTION— OFFICERS DRAWN FOR THE MILITIA IMPRISONED
IN WAKEFIELD JAIL Pag*^ ''3
CHAPTER VII.
COMPLAINTS MADE AGAINST THE BOYS' STYLE OF READING— SUPE-
RIORITY OF THAT OF THE GIRLS — ISABELLA HARRIS, JUNR. —
VALUABLE SERVICES RENDERED BY APPRENTICES— RELIGIOUS IN-
STRUCTION — JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY — PROSPEROUS TIMES — DISCIPLINE —
"RECORD OF offences" — "LIGHT AND AIRY ROOMS" — CASES OF
DELINQUENCY — BAD IMPRESSIONS GET ABROAD ... ... Page 131
CHAPTER VIII.
CHANGES IN THE TEACHING DEPARTMENT — SPINNING ABANDONED —
— IGNORANCE OF CHILDREN ON ENTERING THE SCHOOL — MONITORS —
CAUTIONS WITH REGARD TO RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION — BIBLE TEACH-
ING — LEATHER BREECHES ABOLISHED — INTRODUCTION OF ENGLISH
HISTORY — STYLE OF GENERAL EDUCATION — EXAMINATIONS — LONG
VISIT FROM CHARLOTTE DUDLEY — INFLUENCE OF SCRIPTURE TEACH-
ING — CONSIDERATION FOR DELINQUENTS — NICK-NAMES — WATER SUP-
PLY — MONITORIAL SYSTEM INTRODUCED — JOSEPH DONBAVAND RE-
TIRES — MAT'i'HEW DOWNIE — GARDEN-SHED ERECTED — CLASSIFICATION
OF NEEDLEWORK EXECUTED BY THE GIRLS IN 182I ... Page I45
CHAPTER IX.
committee's SATISFACTION IN ITS OFFICERS — ASSOCIATION FOR THE
IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND — ITS EARLY LABOURS — JOHN HATTERS-
LEY AND OTHER ESSAYISTS — VISIT OF THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER —
VOCABULARY — TYPHUS-FEVER OF 1824 — TICKETS — PRIZES — VISIT TO
THE "villa" — WEEDING THE GREEN — PONTEFRACT MONTHLY
MEETING — WM. HOWITT's ACCOUNT OF A WALK — LATIN CLASS
CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS XXUI
FORMED — ISABELLA HARRIS RETIRES— THOMAS HARVEY's OPINION OF
THE PERIOD — A LADY's RECOLLECTIONS — HOLIDAY GRANTED — IN-
CREASED FACILITIES FOR MENTAL CULTURE — MEETING HOUSE SEATS
SUPPLIED WITH BACKS — WOODEN TRENCHERS ABANDONED — OTHER
IMPROVEMENTS — DISCIPLINE — INTELLECTUAL PURSUITS Page 159
CHAPTER X.
MALIGNANT FEVER — DEATH OF HENRY BRADY — UNSETTLED STATE OF
THE girls' WING — PRISCILLA KINCEY — ALTERATION IN THE CLASSI-
FICATION OP TPIE GIRLS — REPORT ON A SPECIAL EXAMINATION OF
BOYS LEAVING SCHOOL — COMMITTEE'S SOLICITUDE ABOUT BOOKS —
NEW BED-ROOM FOR GIRLS — FEVER AGAIN — RAWDON SCHOOL — DEA TH
OF PIANNAH WHITAKER — ILLNESS AND RETIREMENT OF ROBERT
WHITAKER — JAMES ARTHINGTON — JOHN BROADHEAD — NEW ARRANGE-
MENTS — CLASS CHANGES — " MASTER-ON-DUTY " Page 1 86
CHAPTER XI.
THOMAS PUMPHREY APPOINTED SUPERINTENDENT — STATE OF THE
SCHOOL AT THE TIME — COMMEMORATION OF NEGRO EMANCIPATION —
THE NEW SUPERINTENDENT'S DIFFICULTIES — ENLARGEMENT OF THE
INN — TABLE-BEER DISCONTINUED — INN LICENCE DISCONTINUED —
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY — THE SOCIETY OF ARTS FOUNDED — OPERA-
TIONS OF THE "association" — COST OF BOYS' CLOTHING — HANNAH
RICHARDSON — CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS — WORKSHOP — EXTEN-
SION OF THE "vacation" SYSTEM — GAS INTRODUCED — MEASLES AND
SCARLATINA — DR. WILLIAMSON'S REPORT ON VENTILATION, ETC. —
SCHOOL ENTRANCE IMPROVED — CHARLES BARNARD EXPOSES THE
DEFECTIVE WORKING OF THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM AND IT IS
DISCONTINUED Page 203
CHAPTER XII.
THE TICKET SYSTEM — TEACHERS' HOLIDAYS — "KNIFE CLEANERS" —
NEW DINING ROOM FOR THE GIRLS — READING ROOM — SICKNESS AND
DEATH — WILLIAM SEWELL — DOMESTIC DUTIES PERFORMED BY THE
CHILDREN — THE APPRENTICES — UNPOPULARITY OF THE BOYS'
SCHOOL — POPULARITY OF THE GIRLs' SCHOOL — COMMITTEE OF IN-
VESTIGATION — UNSATISFACTORY STATE OF THINGS ON THE BOYs'
SIDE OF THE HOUSE — ANNUAL VACATION DISCUSSED — FATAL ACCI-
DENTS — LECTURES — WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS — GREAT BUILDING ERA —
TEN CLASSES — RETIREMENT OF HANNAH RICHARDSON ... Page 225
CFIAPTER XIII.
THE DISCIPLINE — WILLIAM THISTLETHWAITE — THOMAS HASLAM — HENRY
WILSON — FIRST GENERAL VACATION — GRADUATED SCALE OF TERMS —
NEW VS'ATER WORKS — ANALYSIS OF THE WATER — STYLE OF THE
READING — ,PROFESSOR GREENBANK — BUILDING OPERATIONS IN THE
WEST WING — STATE OF THE EDUCATION — BOYS' LIBRARY I.MPROVED —
CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS
SCARLATINA — THE " CANAL QUESTION — THOMAS BROWN RETIRES —
THOMAS PUMPHREY ON RELIGIOUS TRAINING — ADDRESS TO PARENTS
ON THE IGNORANCE OF SCRIPTURE AMONGST CHILDREN ENTERING
SCHOOL — ADMIRABLE STATE OF THE DISCIPLINE — HIGH PRICE OF
PROVISIONS — SWIMMING BATH — ADDITIONAL WATER WORKS — ANA-
LYSIS — boys' play-ground ASPHALTED Page 254
CHAPTER XIV.
ACTIVITY IN THE SOCIETY OF ARTS — PHONOGRAPHY — ESSAY SOCIETY —
THE GAMES — THE WORKSHOP — THE SCHOOL EXAMINED BY WILLIAM
DAVIS, B.A. — THOMAS PUMPHREY's GREAT f£tE — THOMAS PUMPHREY's
HEALTH FAILS — HE RESIGNS HIS POST — GEORGE AND RACHEL SATTER-
THWAITE — A GRAND HOLIDAY — THOMAS PUMPHREY's LAST DAYS AND
DEATH Page 276
CHAPTER XV.
A PRESENT FROM THREE JEWISH GENTLEMEN — DIPHTHERIA — MARRIAGE
OF THE PRINCE OF WALES — ^JOHN NEWBY RETIRES — THE TERMS ARE
RAISED — SCHOOL OPENED TO NON-MEMBERS — DEFICIENT SUBSCRIP-
TIONS — THE EXAMPLE OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE QUARTERLY
MEETING — MARY ANN SPECIAL RETIRES — RACHEL ELIZABETH STONE
SUCCEEDS HER — DRAINAGE — EXAMINATION BY MESSRS. WALTON AND
MORLEY — EXTENSIVE ALTERATIONS — DIETARY COMMITTEE — GEORGE
SATTERTHWAITE RETIRES — JOSIAH EVANS SUCCEEDS HIM — BOYS AR-
RANGED IN FIVE CLASSES — THOMAS PUPLETT — AVERAGE AGE, ETC.,
OF THE BOYS — NEW LAVATORY AND WARM BATHS — WINTER VACA-
TION — SCARLATINA — JOSIAH EVANS RETIRES — IS SUCCEEDED BY
FREDERIC ANDREWS — THE " ACKWORTH SCHOOL FUND" ... Page 286
CHAPTER XVI.
OUR WALKS
Page 302
CHAPTER XVII.
SOME CEf,EBRITlE^
Page 312
APPENDIX.
TABLES OF ANNUAL INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FROM THE OPENING OF
THE SCHOQI, TO THE PRESENT TIME— RAINFALL— HEALTH AND MOR-
TALITY-MISCELLANEOUS DATES— " SCENES ON THE PLAY-GROUND OF
A SCHOOL."
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL.
CHAPTER I.
" HOSPITIUM INFANTUM EXPOSITORUM."
In the early part of 1757, the Governors of the London
Foundling Hospital or, to use a more correct denomination,
the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed
and Deserted Young Children, purchased an estate at Ackworth
for the purpose of there establishing a branch institution. Two
objects chiefly influenced them in founding this country home
for their young people — the opportunity of better coping with
the sickliness of many of their charge, and the greater facility
for satisfactorily apprenticing the children. They had already
branch hospitals at Chester, Shrewsbury, and Westerham, but
they contemplated great advantages from having one amongst
the active and enterprising people of the northern counties.
The estate which they had purchased from Sir John Ramsden
and Richard Frank, Esq. (who represented a proprietary of
some estates recently owned by Mrs. Lowther,) although not
precisely conterminous with the property afterwards purchased
by the Friends, was sufficiently so to be considered the same as
the one first known as the Ackworth School Estate. It then
consisted of nine " closes,'' and was known as the " Home
Ring." There was upon it a farm-house, called, we believe.
2 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Seaton's Farm, and to this a number of the children were sent
from the parent institution on the 19th of Eighth Month, 1757.
It is impossible to peruse the documents and letters still extant,
connected with the Hospital, without being struck with admira-
tion of the thoughtful tenderness and gentle benevolence of
those men who, if with misguided judgment, did certainly, with
honest zeal, devote their lives to the advancement of the
prosperity of their houses and the comfort and welfare of their
inmates. They laboured not for the convenience of the careless
and immoral, but to save life, to avert misery and cruelty, to
train and fit for citizenship those who might otherwise fall
victims to every vice which the parochial workhouses of the
time proverbially bred.
Although subordinate to the parent institution, the Ackworth
hospital had its own directorate, which appears, so far as the
disposal of the children was concerned, to have possessed a
wide discretionary power, and much independence of action.
On its first appointment, it comprised a marquis, an earl, five
viscounts, and nine baronets. As the hospital grew in import-
ance, and distributed its apprentices by hundreds amongst the
manufacturers and farmers of Yorkshire and Lancashire, the
committee was made to embrace large numbers of the gentry of
the districts, with a view to their being centres of protection
and appeal in case of oppression and injustice towards the
"foundlings" settled in their vicinity.
The farm-house was soon found too small, and plans were
prepared for building what are now the centre and two wings of
Ackworth School. Mr. Watson was the architect employed., but
Timothy Lee, D.D., Vicar of Ackworth, has the honour of
having planned the centre. The east wing (now occupied by
the boys) was first built, and on the 7th of Fourth Month, 1759,
Sir Rowland Winn, of Nostel, the treasurer, and a devoted
patron of the hospital, informed the governors of the parent
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 3
institution that that erection had then cost ^^3,000, a large sum
in those days, when the most skilled masons and carpenters
never received more than two shillings a day, and labourers
were paid generously at one shilling and four pence. The
works were now urged forward with all speed, and Sir Rowland
Winn, in reply to the request of the London governors for some
estimate of the probable cost of the rest of the building, stated
that that of the west wing would be the same as that of the east
wing, and that of the centre ;^S,ooo or ;^6,ooo. He con-
sidered that the building should accommodate, when complete,
500 children. On the 5th of Fourth Month, 1759, the centre
was ordered to be staked out, and the building progressed so
rapidly that it was covered in before the winter of the following
year. The west wing was then built, and the connecting
colonnades completed the general structure. The estate also
increased in size, by various purchases and exchanges, until, in
1760, it amounted to 104a. zr. 3p., which had^cost altogether
^^3,829 IS. lod., the old rental of which was ;!£'io7 53.
The general building account was kept open until 1766, but,
in 1763, an estimate was made of the expenditure, past and
prospective, by which it appears that the " cash distributed on
account of the building, before 1763," amounted to about
^11,450, that there was then due to workmen for work done
_;^5oo, and that it would require about ;^i,ooo more to finish
the west wing and the north-west colonnade. It is here stated
that the first of these items covered, besides the other work,
" levelling the ground by carting earth from back to front, digging
the haha, building the spaw, the bridge, the dam, and two
cottages."
The water supply was planned and worked out by John
Smeaton, the great engineer and the builder of the Eddystone
hghthouse. He first presented an estimate for an engine which
should deliver 78 gallons per hour from a well in Bell Close —
B 2
4 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the water to be raised zi% ^^^^i ^-'^d carried a distance of 2,104
feet. This he offered to complete for £i<)Z- His alternative
plan was adopted, which was to fix a pump in the "area" by
which a single man was able to raise 312 gallons per hour to a
height of 51 feet, at a distance of 300 feet. The cost of this
apparatus was ^{^64. When the property was purchased by the
Friends, after lying many years unoccupied, Smeaton was called
in to put his pump in working order again.
But long prior to the completion of th6 noble pile, the young
institution, first in its humbler dwelling, and then in such
portions of the new house as were earliest prepared for its work,
had been actively engaged in the fulfilment of its mission. Its
first steward and mistress were John Hargreaves and his wife.
The former was an active, energetic, and humane man,
eminently qualified for his position. He possessed the entire
confidence of Ijis committee, and, many years after his accept-
ance of his duties, was highly complimented on " the great
tenderness and humanity " with which he had performed them,
by the secretary of the London house — Mr. Collingwood,
himself a very benevolent and noble man. He held the ofiSce
until his death, the year before the hospital was closed, when he
was succeeded by his son, in whom the committee appears to
have had equal confidence. His principal subordinates were
the " chief matron," who directly superintended all the nurses,
resident and non-resident; a "matron of the nurses," a
"matron of the infirmaries," a school-master and a school-
mistress. The number of women employed in the house was
never large, usually about nine. These acknowledged the
receipt of their wages in a book still extant, and it is noticeable
that all sign the cross, as if unable to write, except one. The
wage of a good superior nurse was ^3 los. per annum,
but some of the servants did not receive more than ^1.
Perhaps the liberal allowance of beer was supposed to increase
the value of a nurse's position — that being two quarts per day.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 5.
Large as the quantity appears, considerable dissatisfaction with
it arose at one time, when some nurses, bringing down some
infants from the parent house and lodging a few nights at
Ackworth, declared that their daily allowance was four quarts.
These bibacious women Hargreaves would never allow to enter
the hospital again, but always sent them back to Doncaster the
day they arrived.
The supply of children for Ackworth was not derived from
London alone. Large numbers were sent from the auxiliary
houses at Shrewsbury, Westerham, and Chester, and from
certain towns where the London hospital had " inspectors," who
collected children suitable for the charity from their districts.
The mode of conveyance from London was by a commodious
"caravan,'' carrying usually sixteen or eighteen children, and
two or three nurses. This vehicle must have been an elaborate
affair, as it cost ^42 5s. It was afterwards supplied with the
luxury of a hammock, ingeniously devised by Dr. Lee, of
Ackworth Rectory. It usually made twelve or fourteen double
journeys in the year, at a cost of from ;i^i6o to £110. In fine
weather, the journey to or from London was usually accomplished
in six or seven days. Bad winter weather was, as far as practica-
ble, avoided, but there is at least one instance recorded of the
caravan, containing twenty little girls, being unable to proceed,
from the roads being blocked with snow, and of its being
detained a week at Derby by the circumstance. A careful
record was kept of the cost at each stage of these journeys, and
the two following examples may, at this distance of time, have
a historic interest. The former of the two contains the items of
a single down' journey with a " cargo j'' the latter, a double
journey, the section from Ackworth to London being probably
performed with no other passenger than John Stanfield, who was
going up for children. In the first account here given the
caravan carried three nurses and fourteen children. The
journey was performed in 1761.
£ s.
d.
o S
4
o 14
2
7
14
6
6
10
17
4
7
14
2
7
14
2
8
3
13
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
July 20th. Hatfield
„ 2ist. Stevenage
» ,> Biggleswade
„ 22nd. Bugden
„ „ Stilton ...
„ 23rd. Stamford
,, „ Grantham
„ 24th. Newark...
„ Drayton
„ 25th. Doncaster
Turnpikes ...
Driver's wages ... ... ... ' • • •
£(^ 8 9
The double journey, the account for which next appears, was
made in 1769, the passengers being John Stanfield, eighteen
girls and a nurse.
£ s. d.
Nov. 7th. Scrooby °33
„ ,, Drayton ... ... ... 076
„ 8th. Newark 043
„ 9th. Colsterworth ... ... ... o 7 5
„ Stilton 039
„ 10th. Bugden... ... ... ... 086
„ „ Biggleswade 033
„ nth. Welwyn 078
„ 1 2th. London ... ... ... 094
,, 13th. Welwyn ... ... ... 082
„ „ Biggleswade ... ... ... 070
„ 14th. Bugden o 3 3
„ 15th. Stilton 080
1 6th. Colsterworth ... ... ... 07 5
2
2
Turnpikes, up and down ... ... ... i 611
Driver's wages ... ... ... ... o 16 o
17th. Newark... ... ... ... o
1 8th. Scrooby ... ... ... 07
The whole journey from Ackworth to
London and back ... ... _^7 7 o
On the arrival of the caravan at Ackworth, the country
nurses of the district around trooped up to receive such of the
infants and young children as should be apportioned to them.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 7
Great care was urged by the London governors in the selection
of these women. They were to be " careful and tender." No
instance is on record of their being unkind, negligent or cruel.
Yet the number employed was very large. At one time (1766)
there were thus placed out 233 of the sickliest children, viz., at
Ackworth 64, at Badsworth 43, at Hemsworth 99, at Wragby
23, and at Pontefract 4. About this time there were from seven
to eight hundred children at Ackworth. The price paid to these
nurses was one shilling and ninepence a week. No nurse was per-
mitted to have more than one unweaned child, nor more than
one who could not walk. This created a considerable industry
in the surrounding villages, and the amount of money earned
by the villagers during one quarter of 1766 was ;^324 5s.
The dress of the children was, of course, of the simplest kind,
yet must, in its way, have been what the modern affectation
for the antique and quaint would have found sufficiently
picturesque. The boys wore a coat and waistcoat of coarse
brown cloth, relieved by the badge of a red " welt," which, at
an early day, was exchanged for a red collar. Their breeches
were of leather, and as soon as the boys were put to work they
wore leathern* aprons. The girls' outer garment was made of
" printed linen cloath,'' and cost just sixpence. We need not
tarry to picture little "Augustus Caesar," "James Verulam,"
"William Go wer," "John Overbury," and "William Shakspeare,"
at play on the well known " green," all reduced to their
eighteenth century charity costume. No doubt these little
fellows, as well as their sister hospitalers, did play, and play
abundantly, but they worked hard too. It was one of the
maxims of their governors that idleness was the parent of vice ;
and one of their chief objects was to render their charge a boon
to society and a useful aid to the development of the greatness
and prosperity of the country. In 1759 a woollen manufactory
was established in the hospital, where little hands spun and
wove cloth, serge and blankets, and that so well that in half a
8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
year the cloth woven by the children was at least as good as any
that could be obtained for the money, although the profit made
per yard was one shilling and threepence. The selling price of
this yard-wide cloth was three shillings a yard.* At this re-
munerative figure the demand for theit cloth and blankets soon
became greater than they could supply. The committee was much
pleased by this speedy success, and Sir Rowland 'Winn writes in
great enthusiasm about it, winding up with, " We shall convince
all the world what may be done by children." The London
governors were delighted, and ordered the Shrewsbury hospital
to send twelve of its oldest and most intelligent boys to
Ackworth to learn the business, for the purpose of establishing
a similarly useful and profitable manufactory there. This after-
wards proved a source of disappointment to the Ackworth
committee, who thought it would have been wiser to devote the
Shrewsbury hospital to some other business, in order that the
various institutions might furnish to each other mutually
advantageous markets. In 1762 the profits of the Ackworth
manufactory were entered upon the balance sheet at ^500,
which seemed a sum so incredibly large to some of the London
board that Mr. Taylor White wrote down for particulars, "for
the conviction of the hereticks." In addition to the work in the
factory and on the farm, every child mended its own ■ clothes.
This art was taught to the foundlings very carefully, being
regarded as an essential thing that all of them should be able to
keep themselves " tight."* It was an arrangement for economy,
although, to Judge from the accounts, the original cost of these
garments, and that of repairing them, was remarkably small. In
1759, before the mending had been systematised, the accounts
contain the following items : — -
" To 53 boys, for half a year, finding with
breeches and mending their cloathes" . . . _;^8 12 3
The word " tight " still signifies, in some parts of Yorkshire, smart.
HISTORY GF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 9
Other items from the accounts for this same year indicate very
inexpensive forms of dress, making every allowance for the
difference of the value of money of that time and of our own.
To 13 boys' coats, making and trimming ... _;^i 12 6
To 2 1 girls' coats, making 200
To six pairs of new shoes 14 8
. To a pair of stockings ... ... ... 3
The number of children sent down to Ackworth, large as it was,
was rarely equal to the demand for " apprentices " which quickly
sprang up around. We find Mr. Hargreaves writing to the
London board, very importunately, at times, for more children ;
and, in 1770, Dr. Lee, than whom the institution never had a
better or a kinder friend, writes to Mr. Taylor White, of the
London hospital, " The eighty children you have ordered to
be sent to us from Shrewsbury will not serve for one day's
apprenticing." The demand had just then accumulated a little,
no doubt, yet there is an instance of 166 leaving the hospital in
a single day. Every reasonable care was taken to secure good
masters ; no children were granted to persons who could not
bring satisfactory certificates of character from responsible per-
sons. The London gentlemen most interested in the welfare of
the little people urged the greatest circumspection on the part
of Mr. Hargreaves, advising him always, where possible, to test
the applicants by the " care they had taken of their own
children." But when the work attained such magnitude that
this extreme care became impracticable, instances occurred of
men utterly unsuitable for the trust, obtaining credentials dis-
graceful to the giver, and treating the children they obtained on
the strength of them with little short of barbarity, and in more
than one case, of murderous cruelty. The children were some-
times apprenticed, more especially girls, at the early age of
seven years. In such cases it was usually expected that the
mistress or master should have the child educated. One great
object of the governors of these hospitals was to get as many
children as possible through their hands by finding suitable
lO HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
homes for them. It was no part of their policy to keep them
longer than necessary, so enormous was the pressure upon them.
During the early years the apprenticeship lasted until the
articled person was twenty-four years of age ; and the indentures
may still be seen at Ackworth of a foundling, who was
apprenticed to a pavior of Pontefract, from the age of six to
that of twenty-four. In 1768, however, an Act was passed pre-
venting the extension of apprenticeship beyond the age of
twenty-one. Before that bill had been produced the hospital
authorities had always inserted a clause in the indentures of their
children binding the master to give, in wage, to his apprentice
_;^5 per year, after he had reached the ordinary majority.
Although there was no clause in the rules of the London
hospital and its allies forbidding the apprenticing of their
children to "Papists," such a regulation was practically enforced,
and, when advertising their apprenticeship system in the papers,
the Ackworth committee expressly stated that " Masters must
be of the Protestant religion." In consequence of this clause,
on the occasion of a member of the Society of Friends, of Rich-
mond, applying for an apprentice, that committee referred the
question to the London governors, who quietly replied, " We
have no sort of objection to a boy's being bound apprentice to
a Quaker." They had, however, a most decided and well
grounded aversion to boys being apprenticed to chimney
sweeps, and, on observing that it was proposed so to dispose
of one by the Ackworth committee, they forbade it, stating at
the same time — " This committee has never placed a boy with one
of that profession and does not think it for the credit of the charity
so to do."
Perhaps the largest number ever apprenticed to one individual
was the seventy-four girls articled to Mr. Brown, of Leeds, a gentle-
man whose ambition was to establish a manufactory of an
article described as " Cloath like French cloath, which is iit
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL II
for the East India service or the Turkey trade," and which was
devised apparently for using up a low class of wool not service-
able for the fine goods then made in that town. For the accom-
modation of these children he erected a large room, 117ft. long
and 26ft. wide, which he called the " Industrious FoundUng
Hall." As originally proposed, Brown's business would not
have been so utterly unsuitable to the children as it proved,
the carding of wool and other processes attached to it, being
to some extent relievingly sedentary. But when the business
proved unremunerative he was obliged to resort to spinning
solely, which employed the children on their feet all day.
When he received them in 1765 they were all, apparently,
about seven years of age. That year was, unfortunately for
him, one of dear bread. Provisions were nearly double the
ordinary price. The business, too, went from bad to worse, and,
early in 1768, Brown wrote to the Ackworth committee, telling
them that he was losing ^3 a week by the children, that
twenty-two out of the seventy-four had died, and begging them
to take some of them back. The committee communicated
with the governors in London, who immediately ordered that
some one should go to Leeds " to preserve the children, who
seemed in a perilous condition." If Brown should object to
deliver all the children up at once, proceedings were to be taken
to compel him to release them. An inspection of the children
revealed a dreadful condition of health. From standing all day
long, all the more weakly had become so lame in their hips,
thighs and knees, that they could only with difficulty crawl over
the floor. Many had become scrofulous. The sanitary arrange-
ments were in a shocking condition, and a putrid fever prevailed
amongst the children. The beds were " corded, with a thin
mattrass laid upon the cords," which, the report pathetically
adds, " must be very unfit to refresh those weary limbs that have
been kept the whole day to hard labour." Yet it would probably
be a great injustice to Brown to charge him with cruelty. He
12 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
had apparently initiated his scheme with every desire to do
justice to his charge. He had, on receiving them with their
customary single suit of clothing, supplied them with another
outfit, in order that they might attend church in decent attire ;
and even the beds complained of compared not unfavourably
with the accommodation with which many poor children were
supplied, as may bejudged from the simple remark Brown made
when expostulated with about them—" the children,"' said he,
" preferred them to boards." As to the defects in the sanitary
arrangements, to which the young people were exposed, he
averred that he did not suppose they could have done them any
harm. His inexperience in arranging for so large a company of
children probably accounts largely for the state in which they
were found, and his losing business may have prevented his
being more generous. He was unfortunate ; and things had
drifted into a state horrible beyond his appreciation. The fifty-
one children who were still living were taken back to Ackworth.
The prompt action taken by the governors on this occasion
is only an example of the readiness they ever manifested to
defend the suffering and oppressed ' amongst the apprentices,
although they had no funds at their disposal, by virture of the
foundation, either for that purpose or for the maintenance of
any unfortunate ones amongst them who might lose their homes
or be compelled to be removed from them. Their power of
maintenance absolutely ceased on the commencement of a
child's apprenticeship. When a foundling once went forth with
his master, carrying with him his two extra shirts, his extra pair
of stockings, and his Sunday shoes, the hospital authorities bade
him and their legal responsibilities " good-bye " together. Two
other articles of property every boy and girl carried away, besides
their slender outfit, which, for that period, may be particularly
observed as' an indication of the good wishes and blessings that
followed the little ones, when more direct responsibilities ceased.
Every child bore in its hand a Bible and a Prayer-book. In
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
13
their memories also they had some seed for future pious thought,
in the hymns and anthems it was their wont, at stated times, to
sing. The hymn book, especially prepared for their use, printed
at York, may still be occasionally met with on second-hand
book stalls.' At Ackworth is still to be seen one with the music.
The first hymn, so arranged for, commences —
" When parents, deaf to Nature's voice,
Their helpless charge forsook,
Then Nature's God, who heard our cry,
Compassion on us took.
" Continue still to hear our voice,
When unto Thee we cry ;
And still the infant's praise receive.
And still their wants supply."
At the close of this little volume, which, from its superiority to
the ordinary edition, was probably the one used in the direction
of the hymnal services, appears in manuscript, with music, the
Song of Evening Praise —
" Glory to Thee, my God, this night," &c.
The trouble connected with Brown's children was by no
means the only dark story of the time. Where nearly 2,700
children of this class were concerned, it would have been
marvellous if many mistakes had not been made, and many
hardships incurred. So far as absolute record assists us, the
number of such appears remarkably small ; but as great numbers
of children were settled far away from Ackworth, many buried
in the lower parts of towns like Sheffield and Manchester, it is
not improbable that oblivion holds in its bosom many a sad tale
of cruelty and wrong. In all cases which reached their ears,
the governors appear to have done their duty with energy and
zeal. In 1767, in consequence of information received by an
anonymous letter from Sheffield, they ordered Mr. Hargreaves
to prosecute a man of that town for gross cruelty to his
apprentice, Jane Humber. Another man of that town, a
14 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
tile-smith, was indicted for the murder of his apprentice— a
boy named Nixon— but the charge was probably entered in too
strong a form, for legal success, and he was returned " not
guilty." In 1 77 1, another case of barbarous cruelty and sup-
posed murder was made known by the following letter to Mr.
Hargreaves : —
" Sir, I am sorry I have occation to acquaint you with the untimely
death of Jemima Dixon, one of the FoundUngs, which was occationed by
the ill-treatment of her master, William Butterworth. The Coroner's
Inquest has brought him in guilty of Wilful Murder, and he is accordingly
sent to Lancaster. The three other Foundlings he had are taken to the
Poorhouse ; and miserable objects indeed they are. But I hope that with
proper care they will be preserved, so as to convict him by their concurrent
evidence. I mention this that the Trustees of the Hospital may have the
opportunity of joining the town of Manchester in the vigorous Prosecution of
such a Monster of Barbarity, for he should be made an example of in order
to deter others from the like practices.
"Sir, your obliged humble servant,
"Maurice Griffith.
"Mr. Hargreaves." "Manchester, 22 April, 1771."
Butterworth's treatment of his little orphans was simply in-
human. He had starved them within little short of their lives,
had beaten their heads with shuttles, kicked them in the most
brutal of all methods, and had subjected the little murdered
one to the most revolting punishrrients that an utterly malignant
nature could devise. She had died by inches under the pro-
tracted horrors of his cruelty. He was pronounced guilty of
wilful murder by the jury, but appears to have been " reprieved
by the judge."
A case of continued barbarous treatment of a poor girl,
apprenticed at Carlton-in-Royston, appears to have attracted
much attention. This time the inhuman tormentor was a
woman. Although the particulars of her cruelty are so hideous
I
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 15
that they cannot be related and she was vigorously pursued at
law by the hospital authorities, the issue of their proceedings
does not appear.
At the instigation of the Government of the day, the com-
mittee, in 1765, introduced the practice of givir^g fees with their
apprentices— the object being partly to'enable the hospitals to
place out their more unsound children, and partly to get all out
of hand at a cheaper rate by getting them off earlier. In
addition to its grant of ;^28,ooo for the general purposes of the
London hospital. Parliament that year granted ^1,500 for fees
of this kind, and the following year increased the amount to
^2,000. Perhaps no more attractive plan could have been
devised for bringing in unsuitable applicants for apprentices.
Indifferent characters, living from hand to mouth, saw in it a
temporary lull from their troubles and too frequently extorted,
from easy vicars and municipal officens, certificates of conduct,
and carried away apprentices and apprentice fees. The latter
they soon drank or squandered, the former they too often
cudgelled and starved. One instance occurs in which a success-
ful scoundrel received three or four children at once, with the
appropriate douceur. On the strength of the latter, he aban-
doned his home for ever, leaving the children for his poor wife
to keep.
But these sad instances must not mislead. There is evidence
enough to prove that they were exceptional rather than general.
There is sufficient information to establish the belief that, over
large country districts, where the children settled in great
numbers, there was very little to complain of, either in the
treatment of employers or in the conduct of the children. In
1772, Sir James Lovvther, who had had many children from
Ackworth — taking boys for banksmen and overseers at his
collieries, and for sailors and farm labourers, and the girls for
servants and operatives in the carpet factory he had established
1 6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
near his own estate in Westmoreland— being present at the
London board, spoke in terms of such praise of the Ackworth
children, that Sir Charles Whitworth wrote to Dr. Lee, of
Ackworth, saying—" Sir James paid great compliment to your
hospital * '^ * in the goodness of the children
and the cleanly and orderly marmer they were educated."
If children found bad masters, good masters sometimes had
allotted to them very troublesome children, although informa-
tion of this kind is very rare. An example of the manner in
which a child would no doubt sometimes turn out — destitute as
it would be of all those gracious influences arising out of home
and social ties — may be gathered from the following letter,
addressed to Mr. Hargreaves by the Rev. Mr. Williamson, of
Guisborough : —
"Sir, — I received your letter yesterday, and in answer to it am sorry
to tell you Thomas Revel, apprenticed to David Lincoln, of this place,
does no credit to the Foundling Hospital. He is one of the most Subtile,
Lyirig, Mischievous, Thievish, incorrigible Rasscals, perhaps, in the whole
Kingdom. The only reason I know of for his going to Sea was because he
was no longer fit to live upon land. He is addicted, I am afraid, to every
vice a Boy of his Age can be capable of. After frequent complaints had
been made of him, to no good purpose, it was thought proper by Mr.
Turner and Mr. Dundas to make a Trial of him at Sea. Accordingly, Mr.
Dundas (with the Boy's own consent) had him put on board one of Sir
Lau™ Dundas's AUum Ships, from which I find he has deserted, and found
the way to his old nurse. What sort of a Nurse she has been, or how long
she nursed him, I don't know ; but if he had been nursed for two Seven
Years in Bridwell you could hardly have supposed him a more compleat
young Villain. It would be impertinent in me to advise how to dispose of
him, ■ but I cannot help saying, I hope we shall never see him at Guis-
borough again.
"If the Governors should think fit to remit him to his former Master
(who, by the way, I believe, was a very good one), he will be obliged to
make use of such means as the Law directs to be freed from him, as he is a
dangerous Person to have in his Family. And if he should be received
again into the Hospital he will be a means of Corrupting the whole Society.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 7
He says, it seems, that he likes Land better than Water, but he will stay long
upon no Ground, I promise you. I dare say he has taken leave of his Nurse
Steere before this time, at least for a while. If he is manageable at all, I
should suppose it must be on board one of his Majesty's Ships of War. The
Boy I took from your Hospital is a very fine one. I beg my compliments to
Dr. Lee, and am, Sir,
"Your most obedient Servant,
"W. L. WILLIAMSON."
" Guisborough, March 10, 1771."
Never, perhaps, did any institution, the offspring of another,
give more entire satisfaction to the parent body than did the
hospital at Ackworth to that at London. Although the medical
record shews a great amount of sickness and cutaneous disorder
amongst the children and the number of deaths amounted to
6.35 per cent, there is no hint that the London governors were
disappointed on that account. The state in which great
numbers came into the hands of the London hospital was such
that it is surprising, not that so many died, but that so large a
proportion was saved. But those of the very lowest type of
health were probably sent into the country hospitals — notably
to Ackworth. And in the latter there were at times large num-
bers of infirm and incapable. In 1769, at a time when there
were but 216 in the house, a list of those who are reported as
likely to be difficult to apprentice, from some physical im-
perfection, contains 66 names, 33 of each sex. Of these 15
were idiots, 8 had lost the use of their hands, 3 were dumb, 8
had lame or deformed legs, 5 had only one eye each, and the
rest were all more or less painfully or loathsomely affected.
These poor creatures had probably been accumulating for some
time. On comparing the mortality of the hospital children
generally with that of the " parishes within the bills of mor-
tality," Dr. Taylor White, whose heart was devoted to the
interests of this class, discovered, in 1771, that, in spite of the
miserable condition in which they were presented to the hospital,
the death rate amongst them was as low, if not lower, than
amongst the public generally where the mortality was registered.
1 8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Firmly persuaded of this fact, and of other blessings the hospital
had to bestow upon a certain class of poor children, Dr. White
and the philanthropist Sir Charles Whitworth endeavoured to
set on foot a movement for the compulsory entry into the
hospital of all orphans, foundlings and illegitimate children
thrown upon the "parishes within the bills of mortality,'' except
the City of London, believing that it would greatly tend to
mitigate juvenile suffering and to prevent contamination from
the vice so inherent in the parish poorhouse of the day. The
parishes were, of course, to pay a reasonable sum towards
maintenance. The sum proposed was ^^7 los. per annum,
which was probably as little as the parishes could have them-
selves supported a child upon, whilst it would at Ack worth have
amply sufficed, the cost there being, in 1769, ^^5 17s. 8d. per
head.
Whilst speaking of the general success of the institution, it
would be a mistake to omit reference to Timothy Lee, D.D., to
whom so much of that success, if not absolutely due, was much
indebted. He was a gentleman who placed an intelligent and
philanthropic mind almost entirely at the service of the young
institution, and, living within the sound of its clock bell, was ever
able to be upon the place at important and critical moments,
unstintingly lavishing time and love upon its welfare. A letter,
written by him on the occasion ofa visit to the London Hospital,
in 1769, will not only shew his pride in his pet institution, but
will indicate some of the satisfaction and confidence felt in it by
the parent hospital, and is therefore quoted here almost entire :
" To the Ackwortli Committee, the 1st May, 1769.
" During my stay in town I spent most of my time at the Hospital.
You will easily believe me when I assure you that I received a most secret
Pleasure and Satisfaction when I found the Method of our conducting the
Affairs of our Hospital at Ackworth in such high Estimation, both with the
Members of Parliament that attend that Business, and those of the London
Commiltee.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 9
" I told the Committee, or rather would have told them, some of Our
Defects with respect to Impositions about Apprenticing our Children, but
they referred them back to our own Consideration for Amendment, as better
able to remove them. The two Hospitals at Westerham and Chester are to
be broke up directly, and all the Nurserys about London, except a, few
designed for Parish Children, taken into the Hospital at £<) per head per
annum, paid by the Parish Officers to the Hospital. Shrewsbury Hospital
won't remain long, I believe, but don't think there seems the least Prospect
or Design of breaking up Ackworth, and am firmly persuaded that the Annual
Returns I caused to be printed Every Xmas and distributed, made our Light so
shine among Men that they saw our good Works, and gave them due Praise.
If I mistake not we are likely to last as long as our mother Hospital, and go
Hand in Hand. Mr. White thinks be can continue Shrewsbury, but I find
he is Singular in his Opinion.
" I am, gentlemen, your most obedient servant,
"T. Lee."
Dr. Lee's services at Ackworth were much on a par with those
of Sir Charles Whitworth in the London hospital, and so
general is the impression of neglect in connection with charities
of this kind, that it may not be amiss to shew the indefatigable
attentions paid to the poor orphans and out-cast by the latter
benevolent gentleman and his lady, by a brief extract from one
of his letters to Dr. Lee. Writing in July, 1772, he says : —
" Lady Whitworth, as well as myself, attend the Breakfasts every
morning at half after seven, and hear their public Prayers, and are frequently
present both at the dinners, at twelve, and their suppers, at six, after the
latter of which- they rehearse their Evening Prayers. I likewise hear the
Catechism three or four times a week, all which attendants are amusements,
and I flatter myself of Utility, as well as keeping the Children in Order and
Decorum."
As early as Autumn, 1769, we find, from a letter of Taylor
White, addressed to Dr. Lee, that, in consequence of the
probable withdrawal in a year or two of the Government grant,
it would become impracticable to continue the hospitals on the
large scale they had assumed ; and that, as it would be essential
to maintain, as far as possible, the prestige of the mother-
institution, by its being well maintained, kept full, and worked
20 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
attractively, in order to preserve the public interest undiminished
in it, so that subscriptions, upon which it would have largely to
rely, might be drawn into its coffers, the probability was that the
children sent to Ackworth would greatly diminish in numbers.
This announcement was the first toll of the funeral knell of the
Ackworth hospital. In Seventh Month, 1770, the Chester
hospital had been so seriously drained, to supply that at
Ackworth, that there remained in it but 96 girls and 31 boys.
The London committee therefore resolved to close it, and gave
orders to the Chester executive to send all the boys and three
caravans of girls, at once, to Ackworth and to consider the best
means of disposing of the effects belonging to the London
hospital. Within a month the remaining girls were sent to
Ackworth and the doors of the Chester house were closed.
The same month that this exodus took place, a hundred children
were ordered from Shrewsbury to Ackworth. Every effort was
made to maintain the latter in activity, and it lingered on for
three years after this accession. But it now numbered many
sick in spite of every exertion to attain health. One of the
efforts made to remove certain apparently almost incurable
disorders, was the sending of children to Ilkley for change, and
to take the water. In 17 71, eighteen were sent thither, at a cost
of ^58 8s., and the success of the experiment led to others.
When the annual Parliamentary grant was discontinued, there
was no course left but to prepare for the end. Every effort was
made to place in the fittest condition for attracting masters and
mistresses all the hale, the lame, and the blind— the accumula-
tion of years. All but these were sent off to the London
hospital on the 23rd of Second Month, 1773. They were
retained, in hope of a country settlement, until Seventh
Month 25th of that year, when the caravan, which had so often
carried its cargoes along the great North Road, now, once more,
freighted with its wreck of humanity, travelled the well-known
road to travel it again no more.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 21
Their inability to keep open this hospital was a great dis-
appointment to both committees, and especially to Dr. Lee,
Taylor White, and Sir Charles Whitworth ; but the Government
grant of about ^^30,000 a year had led original patrons to
withdraw their subscriptions into other charitable channels —
asylums, Magdalens, dispensaries for the sick poor, &c.,
and now that the Parliamentary supply had ceased to flow,
the novelty of the institution also having passed away, it had
proved impossible to attract either old subscribers or new, in
sufficient numbers to do more than barely support the London
house. The average expenditure had shewn greatly in favour
of Ackworth, in spite of its large share of sick ; and this was
no doubt one cause of regret for the necessity for closing it. A
comparison of the relative cost of the necessaries of life in the
two hospitals was called for in 1772, and shewed as follows : —
Ackworth Hospital.
d.
Meat, 2/- per stone 3 per lb.
Flour i}^ „
London Hospital.
d.
Meat, 2/6 per stone 3^ per lb.
Flour
Butter...
Cheese
Soap . . .
Candles
Beer ...
Milk ...
near 2
6
1Y „
4 per gal.
7
Coals, 36 bush, to the chaldron
3 1/6 per chaldron.
Butter . . .
Cheese
Soap . . .
Candles
Beer . . .
Milk ...
Coals, 48 bush, to the chaldron,
6/2 per chaldron.
6/2 „
3
5
6^ „
4 per gal.
4
From this list of provisions and groceries, it would appear
that such articles cost in the country only 80 per cent, of the
London price, whilst coals were, in the metropolis, nearly seven
times the price they were at Ackworth.
The total number of children received into the Ackworth
hospital had been — ■
Boys ..
Girls ..
T327
1337
Total
2664
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Of these 2365 had been apprenticed.
„ II returned to parents.
„ 10 had been discharged, being 2 1 years of age.
„ 169 had died.
„ 109 had returned to London.
2664
The committees were greatly perplexed to know what to do
with the property. The London governors long entertained
the opinion that the estate would realize a better figure if the
buildings were removed, but their country brethren opposed the
view stoutly. Dr. Lee was earnest in his objections to a scheme
which should destroy a structure so noble, of which, to use his
own words, " the buildings were so strong and (well) constructed
that they might be converted into a palace for a nabob or a
barrack for a regiment." The property was therefore advertised
in the York, Leeds, Newcastle, and other local papers. Part
of the estate— a detached farm at some distance — was, after a
while, sold and, what is perhaps more to be regretted, the turret
clock, with its fine bells, was disposed of to the Marquis of
Rockingham, for the sum of _£s°- This is said to have been
a very fine clock. The hours were struck on a large bell nearly
two feet in diameter and the quarters on two other bells, of the
respective diameters of ift. 6in. and ift. 3in. It was heard
distinctly all over the parish. When the Friends came into the
property, they contented themselves with a much less magni-
ficent apparatus. David Barclay was requested by the committee
to contract with George Penton, of Moorfields, London, for a
thirty hours turret clock, "at a price not exceeding ^£^40."
This sufficed for the wants of many generations of Ackworth
school boys, before giving place to the structure .which now
affords, in addition to the performance of its ordinary duties,
amusement and instruction to the members of the boy's first
class, its works being enclosed in a glass case in their school-
room.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 23
The advertisement of the house and estate was drawn up by
a skilful architect. The following is a copy of it : —
" Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted
Young Children.
" Shortly will be sold by Public Aution (if not disposed of by private
Contract,) Tire Buildings belonging to this Corporation, with 127 acres of
Land, 35 of which are arable, the rest Meadow and Pasture, at Ackworth, in
the West Riding of the County of York, In a most delightful situation, 3
Miles from Pontefract, 12 from Doncaster, 8 from Wakefield, 9 from Barnsley,
and 23 from Sheffield, in a good Coal country, and within half a mile of the
Turnpike Road from Wakefield to Doncaster. The Buildings are all of good
Ashler Stone, have been finished within these few years, and may, with a
little Expense, be made a convenient Dwelling House for a very large Family,
an Academy, or Manufactory. The Edifice consists of three different
Buildings, a. Center and two Wings, joined together by Col onades (exclusive
of the Offices). The Center Building Fronts the South, has (a Committee
Room or) Hall in the Middle, well finished, 40 feet by26. On one side thereof,
in the same range to the South, may be by building one partition wall a
Dining room of 42 feet by 24, and a common Parlour of 28 by 24, and on the
other Side, in the same range, to the South, by building only another partition
Wall, may be n Drawing Room of 42 by 24, and a Library 28 by 24, the
Height of these Rooms are 1 8 feet. The Attic Story, over the rooms mentioned,
are 1 1 feet high and 184 feet long, at present in three Rooms, but may be with
ease divided into Eight bed chambers. The back part of this Building is
conveniently divided into eight rooms on the Ground Floor, proper for a
Steward's Room, Housekeeper's Room, Store Room, Butler's Pantry, Billiard
Room, Servants' Hall, &c. , over which are other two Stories, one of which is 9
and the other 1 1 feet high. The Cellars under one half of this Building are
184 feet long by 24 feet wide. Adjoining to the back part of this Building, are
the Kitchens, Laundry, Slaughterhouse, Cowhouse, Barns, Bakehouse, Brew-
house, Stables, and other Offices. The wings are each 140 feet long by 44 feet
Wide, are built with Ashler Stone, and finished in a plain neat manner ; the
rooms are commodious and large, the materials of which may be taken
down and disposed of, if not wanted.
" There is excellent Water conveyed into all the Offices, supplied by a
Pump and proper Reservoir. Contiguous to these Buildings are 83 acres of
Rich Meadow and Pasture Land in a ring Fence, well watered by the River ,
Went, which runs through the middle of it, and 44 acres of Arable and
Pasture land at the distance of about one Mile.
" For further particulars enquire of Mr. Hargreaves, at Ackworth, or of
the Steward of the Foundling Hospital, London."
CHAPTER II.
HOSPITAL PURCHASED BY THE FRIENDS — FORM OF GOVERN-
MENT — BILLS OF ADMISSION ALL6wANCE FOR TRAVELLING
EXPENSES JOHN HILL, THE FIRST SUPERINTENDENT BARTON
AND ANN GATES, THE FIRST PUPILS JOSEPH DONBAVAND
RAPID INCREASE OF SCHOLARS RULES AND REGULATIONS —
COSTUME HALCYON DAYS ACTIVITY OF THE COMMITTEE
DIFFICULTIES — THOMAS BINNS JOHN HODGKIN— GENEROSITY
TOWARDS OFFICERS — ABSTRACT OF. EARLY ACCOUNTS JOHN
COLE, THE FIRST APPRENTICE DISQUIETING REPORTS —
SMALL-POX — MORE TROUBLES — DISCIPLINE AND, MODES OF
PUNISHMENT.
As this is not a history of education in the Society of Friends,
it would be out of place to intrude a digression on the subject,
but the writer may, perhaps, be permitted to remind his readers
of the fact that the existence of Ackworth School is only one of
numerous instances to be found in the history of the Society, of
the solicitude of its members for the right training and educa-
tion of its youth. Its efforts have been admirably epitomised by
the late Samuel Tuke, of York, in a series of papers read in the
five years 1838-42, to the members of the Friends' Educational
Society, at their annual meeting held in connection with the
Ackworth General Meeting, to which the writer recommends all
who desire information on the general question. It remains for
him merely to attempt to shew the raison d'etre of this particular
institution. This will be found in the society's demand through
the medium of the Yearly Meeting, reiterated every two or three
years throughout the three quarters of last century, prior to its
satisfaction by Ackworth School, for better means of educating
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 25
the children of its poorer members. Scattered throughout the
country, chiefly in rural districts, and for the most part engaged
in agricultural pursuits, were hundreds of families of Friends,
■who had literally no opportunity of obtaining for their children
any mental education but that of the simplest and rudest village
schools. When we think what many of these must have been, a
hundred years ago, we are reluctantly driven to the conclusion
that, however vital the interest in secular education amongst the
more favourably circumstanced, there must, in the body at large,
have been something of the paralysis of indifference on the
subject. There were, perhaps, at all times, suitable, sometimes
excellent schools for Friends in afiluence, and in some meetings
Friends were strong enough and enterprising enough to support
day schools of their own, in their meeting houses, but all these
were comparatively few. The difficulties of travel doubtless had
their influence in preventing Friends sending their children
from home to the schools that did exist, the terms of some of
which were sufficiently low, we should suppose, to be no very
serious obstacle to a considerable class of those who could not
be styled affluent. Samuel Tuke mentions a school at Sowerby,
near Thirsk, where boys were, in 1760, boarded and educated
at j^io per annum. There was one, in good repute, at Kendal,
whose terms must have been sufficiently modest, as may be
judged by the following copy of an account rendered for half a
year and eleven weeks, i.e. for three quartersof a year, according
to modern school computation : —
Trustees of Richard Willan, Drs.
To boarding and schooling for Langlot Willan. N.B. — The
payment discharged to 2o-4th month, 1734, since which —
20th. loth month, 1734, one half year ... ;£^ o o
nth. 1st month, 173-!, when he left, ii
week and upwards more ... ... i 14 o
Vulgar arithmetic, los., merchants' accompts,
^T. IS. ... ... ... ... ... I II o
26 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Firing at home and school, is. 6d., oil lamb
black, 4d i lo
Worsted and thread for a long season ... i o
£l 7 1°
Kendal, 14, 3rd month, 1735.
Received of James Wilson the contents of this note in full
by me. Thos. Rebanks.
The school at Gildersome, conducted long and satisfactorily
by John Ellis, at very moderate charges, was in good repute in
the district immediately round Leeds. Samuel Tuke mentions
many other schools of the time when that of Ackworth was
established, but several of them would certainly not then have
been adapted to the means of poor Friends.
But whether opportunities of education for this class did exist
or not, it is very clear that the generality of Friends in humble
circumstances did not avail themselves of them. The Yearly
Meeting of 1777 came to the conclusion that no sufficient pro-
vision existed for the satisfactory training of the children of
Friends " not in affluent circumstances," and requested the
" Meeting for Sufferings " to devise some plan for the encourage-
ment of boarding-schools having special qualifications for meet-
ing the requirements of the case, and to report to the following
Yearly Meeting. So often had the Yearly Meeting's efforts in
this direction proved abortive, that it is not improbable they would
have done so again but for the circumstance that it became
known to Dr. Fothergill that the estate and house at Ackworth
were in the market at a comparatively small price. He had the
boldness and sagacity to grasp this fact and act upon it with such
prompt energy as to lay all subsequent generations of Friends,
down to the present time, greatly in debt to his wisdom and
zeal. He rallied round him men likeminded, and they, on
enquiry, having found that the estate might, if taken at once, be
secured for ;£iooo, laid the desirability of immediate action
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 27
before the Meeting for Sufferings. That Meeting having no
executive power for such a purpose, it became necessary for
individual Friends to purchase and stand as guarantors
for the disposal of the property, in case the Yearly Meeting
should object to the scheme. That body, however, accepted it
cordially. Something like enthusiasm spread through the Meeting.
Subscription Lists were opened on the 13th of Sixth Month,
1778, in four various forms — ist. for donations; 2nd. for annuities,
by which any subscriber of not less than ;^s° might receive
interest at 5 per cent, per annum during his or her life, or during
that and that of one nominee in addition, at the termination of said
lives the principal to go to the institution ; 3rd. for the sale of
"Bills of Admission," at eight guineas each, entiding a child to
one year's education, board and lodging ; 4th. for ordinary
annual subscriptions. The following curriculum of education
was at the same time shadowed out : — " It is proposed that the
principles we profess be diligently inculcated and due care
taken to preserve the children from bad habits and immoral con-
duct. That the English language, writing, and arithmetic be
carefully taught to both sexes ; and that the girls be also in-
structed in housewifery and useful needlework.'' The govern-
ment of the school was vested in the yearly meeting, which
deputed its administration to a General Meeting, consisting of
representatives from the quarterly meetings, which was to
assemble annually at Ackworth, and to hold an adjournment
immediately prior to, or at the time of the Yearly Meeting,
which was to report to the latter the state of the school during
each previous year. To the General Meeting pertains the
nomination of the active executive, which down to 1869, when
the London committee was dissolved, consisted of a London
and a Country Committee, the members of the latter being
appointed at the annual gathering at Ackworth; those of the
former at its adjournment. As no General Meeting was held in
1778, the two committees, each consisting of twenty members,
were formed by the " Meeting for Sufferings." The number of
28 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the members of the Country Committee was at an early period in-
creased to twenty-eight. One-fourth of each committee retired
by rotation annually, but the Friends whose terms of office had
expired were eligible for re-election. The Ackworth or Country
Committee originally met every month, but this frequency was
found unnecessary, and it arranged to meet once a Quarter for
important business, deputing to a small section called the " sub-
committee," the duty of meeting in the intervening months for
the transaction of minor matters and current finance. The
General Meeting has always retained in its hands the election of
the Superintendent, but other officers are chosen by the
committee.
The first London committee consisted of the following Friends,
and made its first minute on the loth of Seventh Month, 1778 :
Timothy Sevan, Thomas Corbyn, John Eliot, Abraham Gray,
Jacob Hagen, Robert Howard, Jacob Agar, James Healey, John
Masterman, Jeremiah Waring, John Wright, Joseph Talwyn,
John Fothergill, Gilbert Thompson, David Barclay, Mark
Beaufoy, Morris Birkbeck, Richard Chester, John Chorley,
Samuel Darby, Berry Marshman, Daniel Mildred, Henry
Sterry, and George Wheeler. John Crorley was their first clerk.
The first country committee met at Ackworth on the 31st of
Seventh Month, 1778. It consisted of the following Friends,
the first ten of whom were then present : —
Joseph Eglin, John Barlow, Robert Arthington, Joseph
Wright, John Thistlethwaite, John Leatham, William Empson,
Joseph Birkbeck, Isaac Whitlock, William Tuke, John Hustler,
William Fairbank, Nathan Dearman, Edward Horner, John
Paynej William Hird, Thomas Bland, John Payne, jun., James
Harrison, and William Smith.
The first business was, on the part of the London committee,
to meet the liabilities of the purchase, that of the country body
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
29
£
s.
d.
100
100
100
10
10
to prepare the house as rapidly as possible for use, the Yearly
Meeting having advertised its intention to open it on the 25th of
Third Month, 1779. Donations and subscriptions came in
rapidly. The first entered is a donation of ^^300 from Dr.
Fothergill, who also subscribed, at the same time, ^^200 in the
form of an annuity, the interest of which was to be payable
during the life of his sister, Anne Fothergill, as well as his own.
As in this important transaction it must certainly have been
felt that h's dat qui cito dat, we give here the other subscriptions
entered at the same time : —
Richard Brewster, by way of annuity . . .
John Routh, ditto
John Chorley ditto
James Backhouse, donation
The first bills of admission sold were —
Nos. I and 2 to Robert Howard.
Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6 to Nathan Dearman.
Nos. 7 to 16 inclusive (lo bills) to William Tuke.
Within two years, donations had been received to the amount
of ^6,965, and subscriptions for annuities to that of _;2^3,ioo.
It may also be suitable to mention here that Dr. Fothergill, dying
almost within a year of the opening of the school, made a
valuable bequest to it. The London committee's minute made
on the occasion will be read with interest : —
"John Chorley brought in the Copy of a Clause in the Will of our late
friend John Fothergill, Doctor of Physick, who departed this life the 26th of
the 1 2th month, 1780, which is as follows : —
" I give to the Trustees for the tiine being of Ackworth School, in the
County of York, One Hundred Pounds per annum for five years certain,
from the time of my Decease, payable half-yearly, for the use of the Charity,
and then to cease, and from the End of the said term of Five Years after
my Decease, 1 give the sum of Fifty Pounds per annum to the Trustees for
the time being of the said school for ever, for the use of that Charity, the
said Annuity to be paid half-yearly, and to be secured by my sister in such
real Government or Personal Securities as she shall think fit and no other.''
30 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Ann Fothergill lost no time in fulfilling the desire of her
brother, and her decision must have been satisfactory to all
interested in the security of such a bequest. Towards the close
of 1782, she purchased on that account ;£ 1,666 13s. 4d. in the
Three Per Cent. Consolidated Annuities, which cost ;£'966 13s.,
and produced ;£s° P^r annum.
The method of subscription by the purchase of "bills of
admission," although first devised under the pressure of the
prospect of an early paym.ent for the estate, continued in
operation for some years as the only means of entrance into the
school. The form of the bill was very beautifully engraved, and
a copy of it may still be seen at Ackworth. It bears the following
statement : —
"No " Ackworth School.
"Received the day of the Month, 17
The Sum of Eight Guineas, for the use of this Institution, for which a child,
not under Seven nor exceeding Thirteen Years of Age, being a Member of
the Society called Quakers, is entitled to Education, Board, and Cloathing
for One Year. "
" Day of the Month, 17
" Admit a Child aged Years
and Months, a Member of Monthly Meeting.
" To the Treasurer of Ackworth School, in Yorkshire.
"Before this Bill of Admission can be made use of the Order above
must be properly filled up and signed by an Agent to the School, in whose
Name the Child's Account will be kept ; and it] will be most agreeable to
receive all future Payments and directions concerning the said Child thro' his
Hands."
The first subscriptions were temporarily invested in Navy
Bonds, which, when the time came for payment of the purchase
money for the estate, could only have been sold at considerable
loss. In their difficulty, the trustees appealed to the " Com-
mittee of the American Fund " for a loan, which should tide
them over the depression in the -price of the bonds. This
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 31
committee had the management of a fund raised by subscription
amongst Friends in this country for the relief of their poor
brethren suffering from persecution in the States of North
America. It had accumulated at this time to a considerable
sum, and the committee was able to lend to the Ackworth
account ;£^2,893 .9s., which it did at 5 per cent, per annum.
The Friends were not able to effect the purchase of the estate
as early as they expected, on account of some difficulty on the
part of the vendors in giving a perfect title before the lapse
of a certain time ; but this item, varying, at times from the
accumulation of interest, at others from honouring bills drawn
against it, appears in the Ackworth school accounts for twenty
years. At one time it amounted to ^4,396 iis. 3^d. ; but
in 1798, it had become reduced to ;^i,879 16s. lod., when
the American Committee, having for some time had no legiti-
mate call upon its funds, relinquished its claim in favour of the
school.
The first visit of the Country Committee was probably spent
in a survey of the premises, as it minuted no business, but
simply adjourned to "the 9th of the eighth month, at the eleventh
hour," when it had the company of three members of the
London Committee — David Barclay, John Wright, and Morris
Birkbeck. On that occasion Robert Arthington consented to
take up his residence at Ackworth for the purpose of superin-
tending the alterations and numerous repairs necessary, and the
committee minuted the offer, which it " kindly accepts." The
important topic of its deliberations, on that occasion,, was the
provision of a meeting house for the establishment. As a
temporary arrangement, the committee-room was devoted to
the purpose, but it was, at this time, proposed that the rooms
constituting the portion of the east wing, south of its pediment,
should be sacrificed to the formation of a room suitable to the
requirements of the large family in prospect. This proposal
was adopted, and, in Spring of the following year, a contract was
32 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
made with Bernard Hartley, whereby he agreed, for the sum of
£1^8 4s. 3d., to take off the roof and remove the partition
walls, also to re-roof and place the room in a satisfactory
condition. He further contracted to fit up the room with seats
for an additional sum of ;^i3S 13s. sd. It is said that the
roof with which Hartley spanned the new room, about 40ft. in
width, was very ingeniously contrived, and that it elicited much
admiration from all concerned in its removal in 1848, when a
new meeting-house was built and the east wing was raised.
The architect employed was William Lindlay.
An important question in reference to the travelling expenses
of children likely to come from a distance early engaged the
attention of the committees, who felt that the cost from very
remote places would be prohibitory to Friends in very humble
circumstances. The issue of their deliberations was to offer
two pence per mile for every mile exceeding fifty, and the same
on the return journey, provided only that the child had been
two years at school. The value of this arrangement was
speedily felt, for it is a fact, somewhat striking, that a large
proportion of the first scholars were from distant counties. The
two who entered first were from Poole, in Dorsetshire. In the
report for 1780, the amount shewn as paid for this purpose
is ;!^i83 3s., and as, up to that time, but 314 children had
entered the school, afld only five had returned home, it is
probable that the average distance of the homes of the children
was little less than 120 miles.
It is not a little difficult, in these days of railways, annual
holidays, penny postage, and the telegraph, to imagine the
trial of faith and affection which parents must often have
experienced in those early times, and long afterwards, in parting
with their children for the purpose of obtaining an education
for them at Ackworth school. To many of them, the separation
signified burying their offspring out of sight — practically, almost,
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 33
out of all communication — for years, at an age when childhood
is peculiarly impressionable to new influences, and prone to
forget the past in the present. The perils of a long journey,
too, could not be despised. Telford and Macadam had not
yet converted the sloughs and rough hummocks of tracks, very
imperfectly adapted even for the passage of the heavy lumbering
wagons of the period, into the carefully graded and well metalled
roads of the high coaching days ; nor could a timid mother
always forget the graver perils of the attacks of armed highway-
men. Exactly a century prior to the purchase of Ackworth
school by the Friends, the first coach that plied between Edin-
burgh and Glasgow was established by Provost Campbell, who
advertised that it would be " drawn by sax horses," and that it
would "leave Edinboro' ilk Monday morning, and return (God
willing) ilk Saturday night ;" but when the first children entered
this school, no regular mail coach had yet been organized to run
from London to Edinburgh, and, nearly thirty years later,
Walter Wilson tells us that it took him four days to travel from
Hawick to Ackworth. ■ When children came from London and
the vicinity, it was usual to arrange that several should travel
together, and sometimes a whole coach was chartered to bring
down a "cargo," under the guardianship of some Friend. The
cost of a coach, taken in this way, for tlie single down journey,
was ;£i2. When children made the journey alone, or in small
companies, they were met 'at Wentbridge — one of the stations
on the North Road where horses were changed, about three miles
from the school — and transferred from the coach to a cart,
usually drawn, tradition says, by the school bull. Children
going to Ackworth were not favourite " fares " with drivers and
guards. They were not an fait in " tips," or clever in providing
the little warming treats which the coachmen of the time are
said to have so highly esteemed. It is related that on one
occasion, when a party of three was being escorted by a wide-
awake matronly Friend, the coachman was overheard, by the
latter, describing the young travellers to a companion on the
34
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
box, as nothing better than " rag-tag and bobtail." On appearing
at the door of the coach, on its arrival at Wentbridge, to solicit his
douceur, the humorous lady presented him with three small coins,
which she described as being one from " Rag," another from
" Tag," and the third from " Bobtail." By the time that James
Sholl, now of Congresbury, went to school, in 1815, the mode of
travelling from London had been greatly expedited, Yet, even
then, he tells us that he left the " Saracen's Head," Snow Hill,
at six o'clock one morning, and, although the horses were
changed every nine miles, he did not reach Ackworth until noon
of the next day. Nor was the road then considered sufficiently
safe -to dispense with " a powerful guard, armed with a blunder-
bus of three-quarters-inch calibre, in case of highwaymen."
But these travelling difficulties, however alarming to anxious
mothers, were trifles compared with the trial of a separation for
years from children, from whom many had never been parted for
as many days. In some instances, the stay at Ackworth was
prolonged to seven years. But in childhood a much shorter
absence is sometimes sufficient to produce a forgetfulness dis-
astrous to filial affection, and instances are on record in which
children became so changed in personal appearance before again
being seen by their relatives as to be no longer recognisable by
them. We well remember one tender mother, whose circum-
stances were so greatly changed, soon after her boy went to
school, by the death of her husband, that she was obliged to
take a baby-linen business, the exigencies of which confined her
so closely that she was unable to leave home to visit her boy.
His terra of three years having expired, he returned home, with
a joyful heart, and, entering through the shop, he presented
himself before his mother, who, although expecting him that
day, leaned over the counter to enquire his business, when his
voice, trembling with emotion, uttered the word, " Mother !"
The anguish that word produced, she afterwards described as
unutterable. That she should not have been able to recognise
her own son, whose image had ever been before her night and
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 35
day, weighed upon her spirit like the incubus of a great crime.
Years afterwards she could not contemplate the circumstance
with calmness.
It proved impracticable to open the school at the time the
yearly meetings had proposed. From long disuse, many things
had run to decay, and a year and a half were required to place
things in working order. The appointment of suitable officers
presented great difficulties, especially in the case of a head-
master. The institution was on so exceptionally large a scale,
that it was doubtless felt that its chief teacher should have had
an exceptional training. Yet teachers of mark and ability,
willing to accept such a post, were probably exceedingly rare in
the Society of Friends of that day; and it is interesting to
remember that he who had so admirably pointed out the value
of the Ackworth hospital to Friends found also its first teacher,
and that that teacher was so successful that, although a young
man on his entrance on office, he did not leave the establishment
until bent with age. This was Joseph Donbavand, whose name,
even to the youngest generations, must be familiar, from his
long service and his great fame as a caligraphist. Like all
officers, down to the scullery maid, he came on trial — no officer,
for years, being received without performing a term of probation.
His first salary was £^20 per annum, at which, or some very
similar figure, it remained for seven years, when it was raised to
^35. When he was making his arrangements for his marriage,
in 1787, the committee agreed to give him ;^So per annum, a
house rent free, and to supply him with coal. The Friend who
was appointed to the similar post on the girls' side entered with
the same salary that J. Donbavand did, with an additional
allowance for her expense in removing. Her name was Hannah
Reay, a widow lady, whose youngest child, then aged seven
years, was allowed to enter the school at the same time, as a
pupil. This lady's health very soon proved unequal to the post.
She retired, but her heart had become bound up in the place,
D 2
36 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
and, in an affecting letter, she proposed to the committee, on
being restored to comparative health, to occupy any position
however subordinate in the institution. In the Sixth Month,
1780, we find she came, in the words of the minute, "to nurse
such children as may be indisposed, and assist in mending the
children's linen."
The committees abstained from the appointment of a
Superintendent, in the hope that some well quaHfied Friend, of
leisure and experience, might feel himself drawn to offer his
services as Treasurer, live in the school, and exercise the happy
control over the household which they at that time appear to
have thought they could scarcely expect from a regularly
appointed and salaried officer. Such a Friend did present him-
self in the person of John Hill of London, who, with his wife
and daughter, came to reside in the school in time to receive its
first pupils. John Hill's daughter was installed as governess
when Hannah Reay's health proved unequal to its duties.
The principal offices being now filled, and the premises in a
tolerable state of preparedness for its occupants, the school was
declared open and received its first pupils on the i8th of loth
month, 1779. Two of the same family. Barton and Ann Gates,
from Poole, were the first arrivals. Little is known of their
after history, and such information as exists respecting the boy
does not tempt us to linger upon it. For those who are
interested in this first Ackworth school-boy there yet exist, in
the muniment room, his broken indentures.
There was no sudden rush of pupils in the first days of the
newly-opened school. A week did not bring a score. But as
early as the 6th of the following month the committee found
the number of boys already too large for one master, and
arranged with George Lomax, an attender of Friends' meetings
at York, but not a member of the Society, to assist in the school
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 37
temporarily, for doing which he was to receive, in addition to
board and lodging, ten shillings a week. This arrangement is
suspiciously indicative of a great paucity of well qualified
teachers amongst Friends at that time. George Lomax gave
considerable satisfaction. He was shortly after his arrival pro-
moted to the charge of the beer, the Committee desiring him to
take an account of the quantity then (3rd of First month, 1780)
in the cellar, and to register at every brewing the quantity of malt
consumed and how much small beer and strong ale were made
from it. So well had he estabhshed himself by the time he had
been four months in the school that he then brought his family
to Ackwbrth, and was fully accepted as a member of the staff,
at a salary of ^40 a year.
The girls' classes were, probably, from the first, taught in their
rooms in the west wing, but the boys had their first schoolroom
in the Centre on the opposite side of the passage to the dining
room. The room has since been divided and formed into the
store room and the " little kitchen." For two years the school
appears to have glided on smoothly and happily. The teachers
were energetic and kindly, the superintendent (or treasurer, as
he was called) and his wife were eminently amiable, genial, '
warm-hearted and earnest people, exercising over all an in-
fluence productive of much good feeling amongst the children,
the novelty of whose position in so noble an establishment had
itself, perhaps, some beneficial control. After the turn of the
year the number of scholars increased rapidly. By the Fifth
Month there were 123 children in the school; at the General
Meeting there were 219 — viz., 134 boysand85 girls; and before
the school had been open twelve months the scholars numbered
256, when the Committee felt they must fix a limit, which, on
deliberation, they concluded should be 300 — the number
originally suggested, but never before settled. The proportion of
each sex was arranged by the proportion of the two classes in
the school at the time. The maxima were settled to be 180
30 HISTORY OF ACK WORTH SCHOOL
boys and 120 girls. The rule was not very strictly observed,
but the nuinbers were a guide, and Friends were at once advised
through the agents, not to buy "bills of admission" before ascer-
taining that there were likely to be vacancies. In spite of these
resolutions and efforts the numbers increased, and on New
Year's Day, 1781, there were 309 children in the school.
During the first year it was the practice of members of the
committee to spend much time at the school, lending their aid,
in every way they could, to promote the satisfactory settlement
of good order in every department, and to strengthen the hands
of all who had assumed responsible posts in it. The gentlemen
of the committee took this duty by rotation, whilst, amongst the
ladies, Esther Tuke, Sarah Hird, Christiana Hustler, and Mary
Proud especially distinguished themselves by their interest in
all that concerned the place, but more particularly in guiding
the regulations and arrangements of the girls' wing. In connec-
tion with these they brought into the men's committee some
proposals towards a contemplated " Table of rules and orders
for the government of the family and school," an abridgment of
which, having been forwarded to the London Committee, drew
from that body some remarks, reflecting on some of the pro-
posals -as calculated needlessly to lower the quality of the
costume of the children, and to give more of the character of a'
charity badge to it than they thought at all desirable. The
country committee defended their women Friends with spirit, as
their minute on the occasion will shew : —
London Committee on Clothing.— MmvAe: of Committee held at Ackworth
7tli of 2nd mo, 1780.
"The remarks of the London Committee on the proposed regulations
made by some Women Friends of this County, and sent to London by order
of our last, have been read, and it appears to us necessary to remark on the
following Expressions (viz.), 'It would be injurious to the credit of the
House to return them to their Parents in coarser and meaner Cloaths than
thosethey brought with them.' This appears to us not agreeable to the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 39
original plan of this institution, which was Frugality and Moderation, for
sonie may be sent here in Expensive Cloathing^ And we think it necessary
that when Either Committee proposes any matter for the Consideration of
the other, that it may not be hastily rejected or altered, without fully know-
ing the motives for the other's Propositions. We therefore request our
friends Sarah Hird and Mary Proud will correspond with the Women
Friends in London respecting some things mentioned for the dress of the
Girls, as they stand upon the London Committee's Minutes, that they may
be further consideifed before they are Established."
To this communication, which has almost the ring of a
challenge, the London Committee replied with great courtesy,
and referred the question of the children's dress entirely to the
judgment of the Country Committee. The latter body, however,
declined the responsibility, and in its turn referred it to the
General Meeting.
"The rules and regulations" here referred and contributed to
were not hastily concocted, but developed as experience from
time to time suggested, and it was not until 1785 that they
were, in their most complete form, codified ; but as many of
them were in operation almost from the commencement of the
school, it may be proper to refer more particularly to them
before proceeding further. These rules are incorporated and
engrossed in a volume of vellum sheets, which is in fine
preservation, and worthy of the attention of old scholars. It
contains a complete code of laws for all sections and depart-
ments, beginning with those referring to the general constitution.
It contains rules and regulations for the guidance of the com-
mittee's agents, as well as others for that of the treasurer
(superintendent) and the mistress of the house. The school-
masters and schoolmistresses have their laws. There are rules
for the boys and others for the girls, and, as if diet itself were
to be ruled by the rigidity of immutable law, a bill of fare for
each day of the week completes this body of institutes. Few
of these need claim our attention, but amongst those referring
40 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
to the schoolmasters and schoolmistresses may be given one or
two extracts, yielding some information on the school arrange-
ments of early times, and on the care exercised in the
administration of justice.
" That the boys be divided into four classes, under the care
of four masters. That before breakfast each of the Reading
Masters shall instruct a class in reading and spelling, and each
Writing Master examine a class in arithmetic; that after breakfast
two classes attend the Writing Masters to be instructed in writing
and accounts, and the other two classes to attend the Reading
Masters to be instructed in reading, spelling, and English
grammar. That after dinner the boys who attended the Writing
Masters shall attend the Reading Masters, and the boys who
attended the Reading Masters shall attend the Writing Masters ;
that twelve boys most properly qualified be nominated monitors,
to assist the masters in the business of the school."
" That the principal master teach the girls writing and
arithmetic."
" That the girls be taught reading, sewing, knitting and
spinning, and that a proper number be sent alternately to the
writing school to be taught writing and arithmetic."
" In order that punishments be inflicted with coolness and
temper, and in proportion to the nature of the offence, the
following method is agreed upon, viz., that the treasurer and
each master keep a book and minute down offences committed
within the day ; that once a week or oftener they meet together
and inspect these books and administer such punishments as
may be agreed upon, using their endeavours to convince the
children that the only purpose of correction is for their amend-
ment, and to deter others from the commission of Hke offences."
" That the principal mistress be careful that punishments,
when necessary, be inflicted with coolness and temper."
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 41
The rules for the boys are here given in full, but as those for
the girls are similar in spirit, and, with slight variation, in words
also, they are omitted ; — ■
"General Rules to be Strictly Observed by all the Boys at
AcKwoRTH School, and to be Read to them once a Month."
" 1st. That they rise at 6 o'clock in the Summer and 7 o'clock in the
Winter, and dress themselves quietly and orderly, endeavouring to begin
the day in the Fear of the Lord, which is as a fountain of life preserving
from the snares of death.
"2nd. That they wash their faces and hands, and, at the ringing of
the bell, collect themselves in order and come decently into the school ;
that they take their seats in a becoming manner, without noise or hurry,
and begin business when the Master shall direct.
"3rd. That they refrain from talking and whispering in the schools,
and when repeating their lessons to the Master, that they speak audibly and
distinctly.
" 4th. That they should not be absent from school or go out of bounds
without leave.
" 5th. That when the bell rings for breakfast, dinner, or supper, they
collect themselves together in silence and in due order, having their faces
and hands washed, their hair combed, &c., and so proceed quietly into the
dining-room.
" 6th. That they observe a Solemn Silence, both before and after
meals, that they eat their food decently, and refrain from talking.
"7th. That they avoid quarrelling, throwing sticks, stones, and
dirt, striking and teazing one another, and they are enjoined not to complain
about trifles, and, when at play, to observe moderation and decency.
" 8th. That they neither borrow, lend, buy nor exchange without
leave, and they strictly avoid gaming at all times ; that they never tell a lie,
use the Sacred Name irreverently, or mock the aged or deformed. That
when strangers speak to them they give a modest, audible answer, standing
up and with their faces turned toward them. That they shall not be
possessed or have the use of more than one penny per week ; that if any other
money be found upon them it shall be taken away.
" gth. That they use a sober and becoming behaviour when going to,
in, and coming from religious Meetings.
42 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
" loth. That their whole conduct and conversation be dutiful to their
Masters and kind and affectionate to their schoolfellows, and that in all
cases they observe the command of Christ, "All things whatsoever ye would
that men should do unto you do ye even so to them."
" 1 ith. That in the evening they collect themselves and take their seats
in the dining-room and, after answering to their names when called over, and
attending to such parts of the Holy Scriptures as may be read to them, they
retire to their bedchambers and undress with as much stillness as possible,
folding up their Clothes neatly and putting them into their proper places ;
and they are tenderly advised to close, as well as to begin the day with
remembering their Gracious Creator, whose mercies are over all his works.''
Such is the code of general rules for the boys, consolidated
within a few years of the origin of the school, and, with little
variation, maintained in active existence to within about thirty
years of the present time. Those whose memories go back to
the monthly rehearsal of these well-intended advices will
generally confess that their frequent repetition soon rendered
their reading a lifeless performance. The bold spirit who first
proposed to abandon their time honoured perusal shewed as
much sagacity as daring. But the period in which these regula-
tions were prepared was an age of rules, and within half a year
of the commencement of the school the Country Committee
made a rule for itself which, if really needed, indicates the
existence of singularly free and easy notions of the habits
suitable to so august an assembly. On the 3rd of Fourth Month,
1780, the following appears in their minutes : —
" In order that the Business of this Committee may be solidly and
expeditiously transacted. Friends are requested to be careful to attend at the
time appointed, and as much as possible avoid going to and fro during the
sitting of the Committee ; also that those who have anything to offer do stand
up and speak deliberately and audibly, keeping to the matter in hand, and
that no interruption be given by others whispering or conversing together,
but that all steadily attend to the Business of our Meeting. This minute to
be read at the opening ol every Committee.''
No fixed and unalterable laws were made in reference to
costume. That in vogue at home amongst the class who chiefly
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 43
constituted the school was probably not far from the pattern
first employed in the institution, but as corporations of that
time usually deemed it necessary to regulate the dress, and as
sumptuary laws usually display little elasticity, but often stiffen
by usage, costume originally prescribed for very wisely often
becomes, after a time, singular, if not ridiculous. Whilst the
institution was young, the children were probably little aware oi
much peculiarity in their own appearance — in fifteen or twenty
generations they must often have felt themselves exhibiting hot
a little. Yet the girls, at least, must have made a very pretty
and picturesque sight when gathered in companies. Thomas
Pumphrey has carefully described the dress of both sexes as it
appeared about this time, and we venture to appropriate his
language : — " In the early days of the school its juvenile groups
might have reminded us of the pictures of olden time, when
the cocked hat, the long-tailed coat, the leather breeches, and
the buckled shoe were the dress even of boys. The girls figured
in white caps, the hair turned back over them, or combed straight
down on the forehead, checked aprons with bibs and white
neck handkerchiefs folded nearly over their stuff gowns in front.
Their walking costume was a kind of hat, the pattern of which
we are unable to indicate, and a long cloth cloak, with coloured
mits reaching to the elbows." This picture of the young ladies
is dainty enough, and the returning tides of fashion have some-
times more nearly approached their costume than that of the
boys, though it might be difficult to choose between the leather
breeches of a century ago and the knickerbockers of the present
type, as a matter of taste in the picturesque.
We have alluded to the smooth and happy channel in which
the first two years of the school flowed, so far as its internal life
was concerned. That it presented a satisfactory aspect to such
as sought for indications of a serious, sober spirit in its youth,
may perhaps be gathered from a letter written by Robert
Dudley, which is, however, too long for quotation. He paid a
44 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
t
visit to the school in the Seventh Month of 1781, and appears
to have been exceedingly pleased and deeply impressed, on
several occasions, by the spirit Ije found about the whole
place, but especially by the solemnity he observed at the
times of silence before and after meals. He mentions having
visited many other schools without seeing anything so striking.
His spirit was much affected by all he saw, and he expresses a
strong confidence that the school would, to use his own words,
"prove a lasting blessing to our Society when we are all gone
to our Lotts in Eternity."
During this halcyon period, the committee and treasurer had
very busy lives, whilst working in, as requirement arose, the
various subordinate officials of the place. We find them con-
stantly enlarging their staff. Now they are engaging cooks at
;£y per annum, chambermaids at -£^, housemaids at ^£4 ; then
they are making arrangements with an " expert shoemaker," to
take the general charge of the shoe (Jepartment, for which he is
to have a " tenement in the farm-yard, coals, and ten shillings
and sixpence a week." Wm. Snowden and his wife are engaged,
the former as tailor, tho latter as, mantua-maker ; they also are
to have a " tenement," and one shilling and fourpence a day
each. The farm occupied their attention, and a young Friend,
of Uttoxeter meeting, was appointed to its charge, at a salary of
^10 per annum, but whether he had a " tenement " is not said.
He probably lodged in the house. His name was Samuel Good-
wyn. The garden required much time and thought also, and
even the burial ground had its share of them. The appointment of
additional teachers was a weighty business, in which the London
Committee took an active and prominent interest. Regulations
of the diet and the supply of beer were often before them, and
it would appear that, in reference to the last-mentioned article,
they either thought its virtues only needful to an active life, or
its evil properties not conducive to the right performance of the
duties of First Day, for, in 1780, they forbade its use on that day
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 45
altogether. Then they had reports to render, not only to the
London Committee, but to the Yearly and General Meetings,
and, as a further illustration of the satisfactory and encouraging
state which was early prevalent in the school, may be quoted
their estimate of it in their report of Fifth Month, 1780. After
informing their London Friends of the number in the school,
and particularising tha't the children were from twenty-two
English counties, and that two came from Scotland and one
from Wales, they conclude : —
i' The want of such an Establishment seems clearly evident, from the
ready disposition with which Friends have Embraced the Privilege of
providing their Children with the means of obtaining a pious, guarded
Education, insomuch that many have been sent hither at very great distances,
in the midst of a severe Winter ; and nothing could more fully demonstrate
the necessity of it, than the good Effects that have already been conspicuous
in the minds and manners of divers, who at their first Admission, seemed
utterly unacquainted with good order, and of very unpromising Dispositions.
These Encouraging Circumstances, and the great satisfaction attending the
minds of many Friends who have been led to visit this place, and the
openings they have found in the flowings of Gospel Love, to impart Counsel
and Admonition to the whole family, are Confirmations to us, that the
Establishment, if conducted under a due regard to divine Direction, may be
rendered a blessing to the rising Youth of the present and Succeeding
Generations."
The Country Committee had its occasional difficulties. Al-
ways more particular than its London brethren in the matter of
dress, the country Friends were much annoyed by some of the
parents, who were evidently not quite satisfied with the style in
vogue in the school, for sending clothes to their children.
Expostulation did not check the practice, though it would appear
a change of ground took place in the reason presented by those
who persisted in it. They sent them " under pretence of
doing good to the institution.'' But the Committee would
have none of it. " To prevent every appearance of distinction,"
they refused to have any more on any plea. Another practice,
which we moderns should think innocent enough, did not
46 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
accord with their views of propriety, and there may have been
then good reasons for the objection they took to it. They
refused, in 1780, to allow children, in future, to leave the
premises with their friends, or even parents, when on a visit to
them. It was considered sufficient that they should see them
on the premises. They accordingly minuted their decision, and
referred the suitability of its being incorporated in the standing
rules to the consideration of the following General Meeting.
Holidays or vacations, also, soon began to give them concern.
When children had been a year in the school many of them had
been permitted to go home for a while, but from time to time
the Committee discoverd evils attendant upon the practice,
whilst they do not appear to have perceived any compensating
advantages in it, and as " several disagreeable circumstances "
had already attended the Uberty, they urged upon the London
Committee, in Seventh Month, 1781, to join them in forming a
rule absolutely prohibiting it. The Committee appealed to
probably felt less strongly the propriety of so drastic a measure,
and, whilst yielding the general point, reserved to John Hill
discretionary power, on "extraordinary occasions," to grant
permission of absence.
The increasing demands on the boys' teaching staff led to the
appointment of two masters, whose quahfications gave great
confidence to the Committees. These were Thomas Binns and
Thomas Hodgkin ; the latter of London, the former from Looe,
in Cornwall. Of the expectations caused by these Friends
something may be judged from the salaries they were to receive.
The arrangements in both cases were conducted chiefly by the
London committee. It engaged to pay to Thomas Hodgkin
^100 per Siinum, and to Thomas Binns 80 guineas, to provide
the latter a house rent free, and to give him ^30 towards
defraying the expense of moving his family from his distant
home. In the Tenth Month of 1780, when the school had been
open one year, the committee took a careful review of the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 47
conduct of their officers. It issued in a resolution of generous
liberality towards those who had served them well in important
stations. As the minute embodying the items of their donations
not only shews their very generous treatment of their officers,
but affords some information on the rates of payment of the
period, it is here quoted entire : —
" In consideration of the weight of business which has fallen under the
care of the following persons, and their diligence in discharging it, it is
agreed that the several sums following shall be given to them respectively
as gratuities, viz. : —
To Geo. Lomas ... ... ... ... ... ^5 o o
,, Joseph Donbavand ... ... ... ... 500
,, Ann Hill 500
,, Eleanor Abrahams ... ... ... ... 400
,, Samuel Goodwin ... ... ... ... 300
"This Committee likewise, considering the great care and attention
that is unavoidably necessary in properly conducting the School and Family,
which has increased so much beyond the Expectation of Friends in general,,
it is proposed that the following additions shall be made to the salarys of the
Teachers and others, for the year ensuing, viz. ; —
George Lomas, £10, making ... ... ;^5o o o
Joseph Donbavand, ^10, , 30 o o
Ann Hill, £St >> 25 o o
Eleanor Abrahams, £4, making £iz this year, and^i5 y, ensuS.
Samuel Goodwin, ;^Si iri^king ... ... ... /^i^ o o
Wm. Snowdon and wife ;£'5, ,, 35 o o
"And it is also agreed that the wages of the following Servants be
advanced the ensuing year, viz. : —
Hannah Robinson to ;fio 10 o
Elizabeth Brady „ ... 800
Margaret Hodgson,, 700
Judith Foster ,, ... 500
And Matthew Downing, the Gardener, to 15 shillings a week."
At the close of the year the first abstract of the accounts for
the time the school had been open was prepared, and a copy of
it may have its interest for our more statistical readers : —
48 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
ABSTRACT OF THE ACCOUNT
From the Commencement 9th mo., 1778, to the 31st of the 12th mo., 1780
Receipts.
£ s. d.
Donations, as per List 6965 o 3
Annuities, ditto, at 5 per cent, per annum on the life of
the Subscriber and a nominee 3100 o o
Legacies, viz. : —
John Hoyland, 10
John Girdome, 40
— SO o o
Bills of Admission — 385 at 8 guineas ... ... ... 3234 o o
American Committee borrowed, at 5 fer
cent '... ;^2893 9
Interest due thereon 135 2 8
3028 II 8
Interest and Profit on Government Securities 1002 3 6
John Hill, Treasurer, due to him ... ... ... 50 13 11
Barclay, Bevan, and Co., Bankers, due to them ... 194 19 i
Payment':.
17625 8 5
£ s. d.
Repairs and alterations, including the meeting-house,
with seats, &c., &c. 931 6 6X
Fui-niture cost ... ... ... ... ... ... 1333 12 i
Clothing 700 3 2?/
House Expenses ... ... ... ... ... ... 1424 14 c"^
Stationery, books and printing 259 5 7
Farm 259 12 9^
Garden balance ... ... ... ... ... ... jgo o o
Salaries 154 5 q
Conveyanceof children, 2d. per mile exceeding 50 miles 183 30
Contingencies 297 8 ii|^
Interest account 841 ^ o
Government Securities cost 11090 13 9
17625 8 5
;^2S2
17
283
3
9
17
2
277
I
16
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 49
Note. — The report states that there is —
Clothing m hand of the value of
Provisions, coal, &c.
Books, paper, &c.
Stock on Farm
Drugs
846 I II
The activity of these early committees was very great. Busy
as they were with the thousand services demanded from them
by the exigencies of a new establishment on so large a scale,
and absorbed as they were in the immediate interests of their
charge, they were not unmindful of the future of their young
people, nor blind to the facility with which the good influence
of the school might be eradicated by injudicious apprenticing ;
and, in the prospect of many of their boys leaving, they
deliberated much, in the early part of 1 781, on the establish-
ment of some plan of enquiry for places for such as were
becoming eligible for them, and, in the meantime, resolved to
hold in abeyance the rule limiting the age to which a child
should remain at school to thirteen years, so enabling a pupil to
stay one, two, or three quarters of a year, as might be necessary,
beyond that term, in order to avoid a period of idleness, or an
undesirable home.
We do not find that the boys' school was largely oflicered
by apprentices or junior assistants for some years. The
extensive use of monitors in the school may partly account for
this. As early as the middle of 1781, however, arrangements
were made with the friends of a promising boy, then in the
school, that he should remain a year longer than the usual time,
with a view to his becoming an apprentice at the close of it, if
he should still prove suitable. This period of probation proved
satisfactory, and John Cole became the first Ackworth School
Apprentice. He was articled to one of the masters— Thomas
Binns — and his successors for six years. " In consideration of
his faithful services," he was, in addition to being provided with
50 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
all necessary board, clothing, laundry service, &c., to be paid
the sum of sixpence on the first of every month during the first
three years, apd one shilling on the first of every month during
the last three years. At the expiration of his apprenticeship he
was also to receive the sum of £\o. John Cole appears to
have given great satisfaction as an apprentice, and on the
expiration of his term, he was retained as a master, at a com-
mencing salary of ^20 per annum.
The year 1781 did not terminate before disclosing the fact
that the most successful of institutions have their trials, and that
prosperity itself sometimes developes its own chastisement. A
shy and suspicious disposition manifested itself towards the
youthful establishment amongst Friends in various parts of the
country, as wide apart as Dover and Newcastle. An opinion
became prevalent that not only were many parents sending their
children to it for whom the institution was not intended, but
that they were, in many instances, doing so without supple-
menting the charge of eight guineas by donations commensurate
with the cost of their children. On deliberation, the Committee
came to the conclusion that the charge was not unfounded,
and cast about for a remedy to the irregularity, which had
doubtless arisen, partially, from the facility with which " bills of
admission could be purchased," and from the difficulty which
agents felt in refusing to endorse, when Friends had once pur-
chased them. There were also not a few Friends who con-
sidered the whole scheme of the institution of too ambitious
a nature, and as a departure from true humility. One Friend,
writing apparently as the representative of those in his vicinity,
when forwarding the annual subscriptions, says — " Few give any
room to expect they will give another year. Many of us think
the thing too glaring, pompous, and great for either our appro-
bation or encouragement;" and he concludes with an opinion,
for which it is to be hoped he alone was responsible, that, for
such as were the true objects of the school, " No large share of
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 5 1
learning in figures or letters nor fine hand-writings are needfiil
for them, but may be injurious to them, touch their vanity, and
infect them with the disease of taste and refinement that too
much prevails amongst us."
To dim, still further, the first brightness, the small-pox broke
out in the school towards the close of 1781. Forty of the
children took it in the usual form, and twenty-five, by request of
their parents, by inoculation. Three deaths occurred from the
visitation. The Country Committee made no further allusion in
their books to these losses than the laconic entry — " Died of
small-pox, three boys, in the natural way.'' Nor does this
serious attack of' an illness, only too well known then, appear
to have materially shaken the confidence of the public in the
school, as there were more children in it at the close of the
following year than at its commencement. That it may have
spread some temporary timidity is probable, from the circum-
stance that, whereas, in the early part of 1782, there were so
many children on the "hst for admission" as to induce the
Country Committee to propose to the London Friends the
opening of the school to a larger number, viz., 2 to boys and
140 girls, the proposal was not carried into effect. It is possible
that the extension may have become unnecessary, in conse-
quence of the appearance of a disposition among Friends to be a
little cautious in consequence of the illness. The wide prevalence
'of that disorder in our country a hundred years ago may be
inferred from the statement made to the Committee, at the end
of First Month 1782, which notes that the disease had nearly
spent itself, that there were still two cases in its earlier stage, but
that there were very few others who had not had the complaint.
So serious was an attack of this nature in a large school, that
the Committee, at another time, even questioned whether a rule
should not be made forbidding the admission into it of any
, child who had not had the disease, but it finally concluded that
the parents of such children as might have it in the school
E 2
52 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
should make some reparation for "the extraordinary trouble and
expense to the institution." The regulation was embodied in
the vellum book of rules, where it assumes the following dismal
form : —
"For every child \vho takes the Small-pox in the natural way or by
inoculation, one guinea shall be paid to the Institution ; and in case any
children die of that complaint, or any other disease in the School, the
Treasurer may restore two pounds and three shillings for every whole quarter
unexpired, deducting one guinea for the expense of the burial. "
Before the close of the year, there sprang up some little
spirit of dissatisfaction amongst certain officers, in various
departments, leading to a little neglect of the courtesy and
allegiance due to the Treasurer. Appeals w»re made to the
Committee, over his head, and discomfort crept in. In the
Eleventh Month of 1781 the Country Committee endeavoured to
strengthen the authority of John Hill and his wife, by making
known that it would, in future, receive no proposal or complaint
from any servant until it had been properly laid before the
Treasurer.
We approach a period now indeed when the harmony and
successful condition of the school suffered a declension. A
special committee of inspection was organised by the Country
Committee in 1782, which, in the Eighth Month presented a
report, stating its general satisfaction with the condition of the
school, but suggesting various changes in the out-door depart-
ments. It also urged the importance of cultivating a plain and
unaffected style of reading, and, especially, more solemnity in
the reading of the Scriptures and religious books. The
members of this small committee had reason to desire that
particular attention should be given to the suppression of
improper publications, which might be sent to, or come with,
the children, and they concluded by expressing their desire that
" the officers and servants (may) weightily consider the
importance of their example, that a consistent plainness may be
manifest throughout the family."
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 53
Admirably as the institution had, in the main, been conducted,
zealously as the noble men, who guided afifairs, had laboured to
render their young institution as perfect as was possible, no
sooner did small troubles arise, within the precincts of the
establishment, than the breath of misrepresentation blew upon
it from without. Mischievous report, as usual, spread rapidly,
producing injurious and disturbing apprehensions. Rumour has
usually some foundation, yet in this instance it is probable that
the only ground for its existence is what is conceded in the
manifesto which the Committee found itself obhged to issue, in
defence of the management The charges were made in their
most direct form by Hertford Monthly Meeting, which deputed
three of its members to communicate with the Committee on
the subject. Those Friends were informed that, on strict
enquiry, the allegations had been proved false, but, to restore
the credit of the school, which was felt to be in peril, these noble
Friends, whose duty they felt it to be to guide it through
troubled as through still waters, resolved to address their
refutation of the charges to a wider circle. In their report to the
adjournment of the General Meeting held in London, they say: —
" As various reports have been spread prejudicial to the reputation of
this institution, in particular that a great number of the children in the
School were infected with llie Itch, we judge it proper to inform you that
strict examination was made at the time and no symptoms of that disease
found in the Family, and that great and constant care is taken by way
of precaution.
" There hath also been a. rumour that the children are not allowed
sufficient Food, for which there is likewise no Foundation in Truth, but it
seems to have arisen from those whose imprudent Indulgence at home hath
rendered almost every regulation irksome, and necessary restriction a
Punishment. We therefore think it necessary that Friends Everywhere may
be cautioned against encouraging or spreading such ^vil Reports, tending to
depreciate the reputation of this useful Institution, and reflecting Imputations
of gross Neglect and Inattention on the Committee, as well as our friends
John Hill and his Wife, whose arduous, disinterested labour for the good of
this Institution, and affectionate Attention to the welfare of the children,
hath ever given us great satisfaction. " •
54 HISTORY OF ACK.WORTH SCHOOL
There was never, perhaps, a time when attention to the
discipline of the school was more fraught with important issues
than in its early years. For the first two, as has already been
said, little appears that would suggest that it was not eminently
successful. There is indeed every reason to believe that its
administration was characterised by a much more enlightened
and kindly policy than was in vogue in most large schools of the
time. The difficulties of the disciplinary department were
probably greater than in our times, in certain directions. It is
perhaps idle to speculate whether the modern school-boy is a
more reasoning and reasonable being than his predecessor of a
century ago, but when we bear in mind that, when Ackworth
School was founded, the children of Friends were much more
extensively of the peasant type than now, that, if surrounded by
the sweet simplicities of rural life, they were open no less to the
depraving influences of a free admixture with agricultural
servants and others of a type little less ignorant, and, conse-
quently, alike self-opinionated and stubborn, we shall probably
not err if we conclude that they were more self-willed and
unmanageable than now. Many of the modes of punishment
then in use were such as to confirm, rather than remove the
obnoxious elements of a disorderly boy's nature. Corporal
punishment was probably the chief method of repressing the
unruly everywhere. Very literal was the rendering of Solomon's
advice about the rod. But from the first, as we have seen, its
application was very carefully hedged about at Ackworth. From
the condition imposed on the master, of abstaining from its use
on his own responsibility and authority, it was doubtless pre-
served from much abuse. As, at first, all offences were to be
judged in the weekly '■'■courts" of the masters — a precaution
chiefly devised in the interests of justice, probably, but intended
also, we may guess, to secure chastisement, when corporal, from
being handled in hot blood — punishment would seldom err on
the side of severity, according to the standard of the day. The
delay, sometimes entailed by this judicial process, had some
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 55
serious disadvantages, however ; and, when the school came to
contain nearly 200 boys, it was believed, by some of the masters,
that a swifter method was, at times, almost absolutely necessary.
They appealed to the Committee, and obtained some modifica-
tion of the standing regulation, which provided that, in cases of
disobedience to a master's orders, or contempt of his authority,'
the master might at once call in two of his fellow-teachers, who,
with himself, might jointly decide on the amount of correction
adequate to the offence, and " inflict it with the rod with due
caution, not exceeding three strokes, to be done by one of the
masters not offended." Any conduct requiring more serious
treatment was, as before, to be referred to the weekly " court."
No records appear to be extant of the proceedings of this
assembly, except one slender volume, which covers a period of
about four years and ten months, viz., from the eighth of First
Month, 1781, to the twentieth of Tenth Month, 1785. From the
latter date, all information of the joint disciplinary action of the
masters is missing for a period of thirty years. From this
solitary little manuscript volume, we have endeavoured to cull
information on the nature of the offences prevalent in the early
years, and of the methods by which it was sought to correct and
remove them. It may be here mentioned that members of the
Committee were frequently appointed by the body to sit in the
"courts" for the double purpose of seeing how things were
going in the school and of advising with the masters on difficult
points. How far these visitors were permitted to see into the
mysteries we are not told, but, on one occasion, when some bad
business should have come before the " court," the transactions,
minuted in the page for the day, are of a very simple character ;
but, upon a piece of paper, carefully pasted into the book
opposite this record, runs a memorandum naively noting —
"Favoured with the company of some Friends, it was judged
most prudent to postpone the Examination of our Delinquents
to a future Sitting, and not expose our Weaknesses before our
Visitors." During the first two years dehnquencies of a very
5 6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
venial character chiefly constituted the calendar— unless we are
to suppose that offences, bearing simple names, were only
reported when obstinately persisted in.
The consideration shewn to delinquents, during the two first
years of the record, is highly creditable to the humanity of the
masters. If excuse could be found for a boy, it was apparently
rather readily placed to his credit, and even offences of a some-
what grave character are often treated leniently. When, as in
early times was not infrequently the case, no offenders were
brought up, the minute of the day often acknowledges the
masters' pleasure in the circumstance in such words as " it is
much to the credit of the children, and to our satisfaction."
Even chastisement with the rod was not always a very severe
suffering at their hands. In one instance it was limited to " one
stroke." Boys were often excused their faults on promise of
amendment, sometimes on the appeal of a visitor. Indeed it
is doubtful if leniency and forgiveness did not sometimes pass
the limit of prudence, and whether they were not the parent, in
some measure, of subsequent disorders. One boy, charged
with " stealing worsted," was considered to have expiated his
offence by being put into the " new prison " for half an hour.
The j>rison may have had terrors for the boy which are not now
easy to gauge, or, possibly, the term " stealing " is here a strong
rendering for an act which the boy scarcely understood to be
theft. In the early times, offences of a minor character are
constantly reported. Troublesome talkativeness, noisy ways,
burning shoes, cutting desks, using disagreeable names, et hoc
genus omiie, were usually punished by brief terms of confinement
from play, with an occasional memory-task — the subject being
usually some of the rules of the school or arithmetical tables.
And this form of punishment, in an aggravated form, is
throughout the five years constantly applied to serious disorders,
especially on Seventh Day afternoons, which occasions wiped
off many old scores, and sometimes created new ones. For
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 57
offences of rudeness, striking, teasing, wilful disturbance, cruelty,
&c., a season of durance in the "new prison" was often pre-
scribed. For damaging school books (and tearing out their leaves
was a frequent offence), a boy usually "forfeited one week's
spice." Old Ackworth scholars will wonder that the crime was
ever committed a second time. A form of correction
was devised from the practice in vogue of using the boys,
in rotation, in the performance of some domestic duties,
but it was not by imposing additional ones upon an
offender, but by striking out his name from the , " Book of
offices,'' and this proved a punishment of much virtue. Nine
boys ran out of bounds t5 bathe in the river, and some of them
had done it many times. Their names were removed from the
privilege-book, and they were not long in appealing to have
them reinstated. This punishment was used to a considerable
extent. Various ipethods of " disgracing " were at one time in
fashion. Two troublesome boys, convicted of " disturbing the
school," were condemned to be "disgraced round the "green,"
under a guard, and afterwards confined, if it seemed not to have
the desired effect." Other two thoughtless ones were "dis-
graced round the court" for taking flowers out of a school-
fellow's garden, and some were "disgraced in the dining-room
until they behaved better." For abusing one of their school-
fellows — a bad case of bullying probably — four boys were
" disgraced round the green," the ring-leader wearing, during
the performance, a rod hung to his neck, which was to be
used upon him if the disgrace were not deterrent. Occasionally
boys were " disgraced at dinner time, with their hands tied
behind them." In some of the school-rooms were " blocks," on
which troublesome boys stood to learn their tasks, whilst two
boys are mentioned as having been ordered to take their places
on the '^ culling seats " — whatever they may have been — until
their conduct was to their master's satisfaction. Requiring an
offender to find " bondsmen " for his good behaviour was
common, as was also compulsory public acknowledgment
S8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
of offences. A. B. " struck a schoolfellow," and was " ordered
to make a public acknowledgment of his offence, to ask excuse
of his offended schoolfellow, and find security for his good
behaviour for two weeks. Samuel Bleekley and John King
giving in their names for that purpose, he is to be excused."
There is nothing in these records to justify any impression
that stealing and lying were extensively prevalent at any time,
although painful individual instances of confirmed habits of the
character appear. These crimes were, of course, very variously
punished, according to the enormity of the case. For lying, one
boy was sentenced to " learn by heart the rules in the ' School
Orders ' against telling untruths, and also the first eleven verses
of the fifth chapter of the Acts, and repeat them with an audible
voice before his schoolfellows some suitable evening when
collected together." Occasionally a boy makes his appearance
in these records in a manner which points to the existence of a
very low type of individual character in reference to these grave
offences, but such boys are not in any sense common and are
chiefly found about the year 1784. The rod and the "prison"
were the forms of retribution administeted to these, and it is far
from clear that they had either a repressive or a restorative effect.
They probably had more persuasive influence upon wavering
spirits who did not experience them than upon the culprits
who did.
Towards the close of the period under review there are many
instances of wilful disobedience, "attempts to throw the school
into confusion," and there were spirits who bent all their powers
to set law and order at defiance. Indeed, as we approach and
enter 1784, we find a marked increase of the heavier charges,
whilst the small delinquencies of the early pages no longer
appear. The further we proceed the worse things become until,
towards the close of the little volume, the sense of breathing a
thick and heavy moral atmosphere becomes absolutely oppressive.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL ' 59
Floggings, which were rarely mentioned before, become pain-
fully common at the close of the period, and the reader shuts
the book with a sense of having entered upon times that were
evil.
Whether the little record from which these details of dis-
ciplinary action are culled is any guide to the extent to which
corporal punishment obtained is, perhaps, doubtful. It^ men-
tions only forty or fifty cases of whipping and beating with the
rod, sometimes in the "court,'' but more frequently, perhaps, in
public, either in the dining-room, schoolrooms, bedrooms, or
elsewhere. Nearly twenty cases of "imprisonment" are entered.
This does not appear a large number, but it should be mentioned
that the term "confinement" may possibly signify incarceration,
in which case the number would be considerably increased, as
we have not so interpreted the term. One instance occurs in
which a boy was condemned, for stealing an orange from a
schoolfellow, to be "put in Ackworth Castle." "Whether this be
a fancy name for the " vif^ prison " we cannot learn.
The infirm condition into which the discipline had fallen
attracted the serious attention of the Committee towards the
close of 1783. A lawless spirit pervaded the boys, with which
the masters appear to have been unable to cope m ith success,
probably because they were not at all in harmony with each
other as to the methods of government most suitable to so large
a school. It would be most unjust to forget that these men
were at the helm of a concern of a character totally novel to
their experience, and to that, indeed, of all teachers in the
Society of Friends. It must be also remembered that their
action was much limited by Committee legislation. Whatever
power of government any of them may have possessed must
have been much cramped and, perhaps, warped by this influ-
ence, nor would the irritation which an able man experiences
when obliged to hold some of his best power in abeyance, at
6o HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
all smooth the nature of his governance, and, when his move-
ment was still further crippled by difference of opinion amounting
to dissension amongst his fellow officers, his effective force would
be reduced to a minimum. To the sufferings and failures of
these pioneers of our public school education, we owe more
than we are probably aware of In the Autumn of this year
the Committee nominated eight Friends to enquire into the
nature of the disorganization, and requested them to spend a
few days at the School, for the purpose of " strengthening the
Masters and Treasurer in their endeavours to restore good order."
The staff of teachers at that time consisted of five adult
masters and one apprentice, but one of the former, in the midst
of these troubles, requested to be released from his position.
He was probably not a very strong or skilful disciplinarian, and
had been originally engaged as a " School-master for the girls."
In their first report, the eight Friends allude especially to
the troubles amongst the masters, but do not state what success
they had had in their "endeavours to promote a proper autho-
rity over the children, and better understanding amongst the
respective masters.'' The appointment " to visit the Schools,
in order to assist in the restoration of order and government,"
was continued. Whilst their investigations were proceeding,
there are indications, as might be supposed, that the unsettled
state of the discipline had relaxed the efficiency of the teaching
department, and whereas the Friends who each month examined
the children about to leave the School had hitherto invariably
reported that they had done so to " good satisfaction," there now
crop into these reports qualifying phrases, remarking on " some
deficiencies," &c. Perhaps the times had rendered the Examiners
more critically disposed, but there are other proofs that the
whole machinery had run down. The "Eight" made their final
report in Fifth Month, 1784, and as it may help to shew the
state of things in the School, as well as the style of action taken
by the Committee, it is here given : —
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 6 1
" We proceeded, after the rise of the Committee, to a Conference with
the Masters separately, and ^afterwards with the Treasurer, to enquire into
the present state of Discipline, and the cause of the decline thereof, who
appeared unanimously of opinion that a manifest declension had prevailed
for a considerable time past which they generally attribute to the want of
more Unanimity and Firmness.
" We spent seven days in this visit, in which time we had religious
opportunities with the Masters, Mistresses, and the sundry other Classes in
the Family; with the Monitors, with the Girls in their Schools, and in the
Boys' Schools often, we hope to some good effect.
" We inspected the Records of Complaints and proceedings thereupon,
at what they call their Courts, which, with some other matters, convinced
us that lor want of proper Discipline, Evils increased among the Boys.
' ' Wherefore we propose that the Masters, in the Execution of their Office
and in their respective Schools, should have a discretional Power to correct
the Boys ; and that, considering the state of things amongst them, it appears
most suitable that a Meeting of the Masters be held once a Month, on the
Evening of the Committee Day, that they may have the opportunity of
bringing up Cases, asking Advice, receiving Counsel, &c., as occasion may
require, and the Members of the Committee have opportunity of becoming
more early and familiarly acquainted with the State of Things, and by this
we think the Masters' Authority may be supported ; such as abuse it may
not pass unobserved, and Punishments become less necessary."
Hovy much of the laxity of the school order of this time was
due to imperfect or limited arrangements for the employment
of the boys' leisure, it is probably now impossible to discover ;
but that there were very few resources for an active-minded boy,
besides play and mischief, is clear enough. The very small
range of studies in vogue in the school-rooms must also have
tended to increase the monotony of general life amongst the
children. Indeed the difficulty of maintaining anything like real
life in the classes must have been considerable. So perplexing
was the provision of sufficient employment in School, that the
Committee resolved, in 1792, to introduce knitting amongst the
younger boys. It was first proposed by the London Committee.
62 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
That in the country did not like it, anci postponed the trial, but,
after a few months, worked into harmony with the suggestion,
and gave orders that the matron, or knitting mistress, should
appropriate a few hours a week to instructing the boys, under
nine years of age, in the art. The curriculum of studies still
comprised nothing, in either wing, but reading, spelling, writing
and arithmetic, with a little English grammar in the upper
classes ; and the addition of this means of passing a few hours
a week was probably a considerable relief to the little fellows,
as well as to their teachers. The attention of the Committee
had often been devoted to the consideration of the supply of
books suitable for reading in class, as well as for such as
might be read by the children in their leisure. The members
were very desirous that everything read in public should be free
from all false sentiment, no less than that what was provided for
private perusal should be sound and useful. From the long period
over which this business spread, it may be judged that great
difficulties were experienced in making satisfactory provision for
the latter department. Those best acquainted with the literature
of the time will be able to sympathise with the Committee,
though perhaps few would be quite so fastidious in their tasti;.
The Report of the .Select Committee, which had this subject
more especially in its care, is, unfortunately, nowhere given in
extenso, but the list of books as finally proposed is amusingly
meagre, according to our modern ideas, and does not represent
a class of mental pabulum to which we should now think of
confining our children. This is not the place for enquiring
whether our modern liberality in reference to the works we place
before our children may not threaten to run into licence, or how
far that licence may be prejudicial, but a tribute of pity must
rise in every heart for the litde fellows of 1783, for whom no
greater variety could be proposed, after months of deliberation,
than the following, of each of which, as if despairing of ever
improving or enlarging the selection, the Committee proposed
to obtain ten copies :—
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 63
John Richardson's Journal.
John Woolman's ditto.
Richard Davis's ditto.
The last edition of Dying Sayings.
Wm. Penn's Travels through Holland and Germany.
John Roberts's Life.
Thomas Sweeting's Fighting Sailor.
Sewell's History.
In this list we recognise a kindly sympathy for the needs of
the young, but it is the sympathy one would expect to find in
the heart of a rigid Puritan father ; but better Puritanism than
licence.
CHAPTER III.
committees' misunderstandings — -EARLY EXPENDITURE, COST
OF PROVISIONS, ETC. OUT-DOOR LABOUR ERECTION OF THE
boys' shed DECLENSION IN THE DISCIPLINE AND TEMPORARY
DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF THE SCHOLARS — PROPOSALS FOR
EXTENDING THE AREA FROM WHICH CHILDREN SHOULD BE
RECEIVED — RETIREMENT OF JOHN HILL — TEMPORARY OCCU-
PATION OF THE treasurer's OFFICE BY THOMAS HODGKIN
ELECTION OF JOHN HIPSLEY AS SUPERINTENDENT — LIBERALITY
TOWARDS SERVANTS — RATE OF WAGES — WANT OF HARMONY
BETWEEN THE TWO COMMITTEES.
The little misunderstandings and difficulties that are under-
stood to have existed between the London and Country
Committees before the close of the century — difficulties which
have never recurred — had their origin within half-a-dozen years
of the opening of the School. At this distance of time they
bear no serious aspect. Each company was anxious for the
welfare of its important charge. The one was always on or
near the scene of action and had opportunities more favourable
to the formation of correct opinion on some points, whilst its
very proximity to its charge precluded the possession of some of
the advantages of the cool judgment of the more distant Com-
mittee in others. With more of northern straightforwardness
than suavity the Country Committee advanced its propositions,
which, with nwre silence than urbanity, the London Committee
sometimes ignored or quashed ; occasionally, perhaps, because
they thought them ill-advised, sometimes, possibly, because they
conceived that the action of the Country Committee too much
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 65
savoured of a. disregard for their opinion. The misunderstand-
ing arose out of the action taken by the Country Committee in
reference to the discipline, when the Committee of " Eight" was
using efforts to assist the masters. Some minutes made by the
country Friends on the subject, and sent, as usual, for approval
to their London brethren, were deliberately rescinded by the
latter, to the evident irritation of the former, who protested in
their next minutes, saying; — "We apprehend neither that Com-
mittee nor the Country Committee has a right to reverse the
conclusions of the other, and that whenever such a difference
of sentiment occurs, as in the present case, the matter ought to
be referred to the ensuing General Meeting, to be there deter-
mined." This breeze passed over, but now and then little
difficulties were occasionally warmly met by both Committees,
until the unhappy feeling reached its culminating point in 1793,
when the Country Committee first pressed, and afterwards almost
demanded, the disclosure of the names of some in London who
had, as they considered, spread evil and false reports of the
management; which demand the London Committee refused
to comply with. But we are anticipating.
Having now endeavoured to trace the growth of this young
Institution for the first five years of its existence, it may not be
improper, before proceeding farther, briefly to allude to the cost
of the children's education. By a memorandum made in 1780,
soon after the gathering of the School, when there were 122 chil-
dren in it, we find that the weekly cost of their board was three
shillings and twopence three farthings each, or almost exactly
eight guineas per annum, or the price of a "Bill of Admission."
So that every other cost had to be supplied by subscription.
The price of various articles of diet was low at that time.
Wheaten flour was only one shilling and five pence per stone of
14 lbs., and a sack of the finest flour was but ^\ 4s. 8d. A
sack of potatoes cost only two shillings and, early in March, 179
eggs were purchased for 3s. ii}'2d. : beef could be had at prices
66 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
varying from 3j^d. to 2^d. a lb., mutton at 3d., veal the same
price, suet at 4d., and bacon at 3>^d. : sugar was however 7}(d.
a lb., treacle about 2 J^d., cheese 3d. : rice was bought at 42s.
per cwt., and we believe milk could be bought at 4d. the gallon.
The cost of the other departments of a child's expenses may be
learned from the Report issued at the close of 1780, and quoted
previously. In 1784, when the number of the children was very
large, at one time 326, the average cost of each was ;^i2 is. 8d.,
of which _£6 IS. lod. were for provisions, coals, and such house-
hold expenditure, ^2 15s. 2'/2d. for clothing, and ;£i 4s. iid.
for salaries.
It is rather remarkable, considering the very limited range of
studies pursued, that until 1787 very little use had been made
of the boys in assisting in out-door labour, but in that year the
Committee, believing that it would be both serviceable to the
boysand some economy to the Institution, if more work were
done by them in the garden, made an arrangement with the
head gardener, the conditions of which were that, if he dismissed
and so saveS the wages of one of his men, he might draw to a
considerable, though we are not told what, extent upon the boys
for assistance ; and that, in compensation for the additional
trouble of watching and training this boy-labour, he should have
his house rent free. It is very doubtful whether much came of this
experiment beyond what remained the custom down to very
modern times, viz., the practice of sending four boys, in rotation,
for half a day's labour, and a whole school-room of them in
" gooseberry picking time.'' In hay time, down to recent times,
detachments of thirty or forty boys often turned out to assist in
what was supposed to be the lighter work of the harvesting, but
which, in consequence of the necessity to follow in the line, was
often, to the weaker boys, a very severe toil. Forty or fifty
years ago " picking wicks "* was performed by boys, and is said
* Twitch or Couch Grass, Triticum repens.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 67
to have been a very obnoxious business to them. As various
complaints had from time to time been made to the Committee
that the girls who left Ackvvorth were very ill-trained, and
"inactive" in household duties, a number of women Friends
were requested to give the subject close attention. The first
effort to remove the ground for the charge — viz., placing the
girls to the servile employments of the house, in rotation — gave
little satisfaction anywhere. The matter was then (1786) left
with the women Friends to do what seemed best in the case,
and the consideration of the question claimed no further atten-
tion from the Committee for some years.
The year 1786 was a notable one to the boys. They had
long needed a covered play-ground, for bad weather. Their
accommodation was very limited in the school-rooms, being
confined to the four rooms north of the pediment of their wing,
and two smaller ones over the matron's room and the " lobby,''
and as they frequently numbered 190 or upwards, they must
have been sorely inconvenienced in wet weather. The Country
Committee proposed to build for them a very plain shed, in
stone ; the London Committee advised that it should be in
wood, being under the misapprehension that it would be more
cheaply constructed in that material. Although, as we know,
stone gained the day, it may be mentioned that we owe the more
artistic appearance of the present shed to the resolute plea of
the London Committee for a pediment in the centre — an archi-
tectural adornment of no small value to the structure. The
shed was finished in the autumn.
Although we have no very serious record of disorganised
discipline during 1785 and 1786, there is nothing to suggest that
any great improvement had followed the efforts of 1784 to place
the discipline on a better footing, and by the beginning of 1787
the Committees again became concerned about the general state
and management of the School. In the early part of that year
they united in sending a Committee of Inspection, consisting of
68 HISTORY OFACKWORTH SCHOOL
ten gentlemen and eight ladies, empowered to make a thorough
investigation. The advent of this large and important body of
censors must have struck something like panic into weak and
disorderly departments, and could scarcely have been witnessed
with composure by the better regulated. Their commission
was lo examine closely into everything — to endeavour, in fact,
to discover every weak joint — and they did not approach their
task half-heartedly ; they came as people fully conscious of their
responsibilities in a crisis. Their dissatisfaction with the boys'
side of the house was complete. With the exception of one or
two less important departments, which would easily be set in
order on the first intimation of their intended visit — the granary,
store-room, shoe-maker and tailor's shops, and the baker's
store — everything seemed to them out of gear, unless the entire
omission of all reference to the studies can be supposed to
indicate satisfaction with them. The probability is that they
had not much confidence in the soundness of class-work con-
ducted amongst machinery so full of loose rivets. But if the
studies are not alluded to, condemnatory judgment was expressed
without stint against the lax discipline. The want of punctuality,
everywhere and at all arrangements, was rebuked, the necessity
for more decorum and quietness enjoined, and the neglect of
the boys in the play-hours severely commented upon ; but the
heaviest charge of all was laid against the large amount of
punishment in vogue, much of which, the Committee considered
might be either wholly avoided or greatly modified and amelio-
rated in form. To defective arrangements for, and indiscriminate
excess of severity in the punishments inflicted, the Committee
very extensively attributed the " disorder which," says their
Report, " we are sorry to observe so much prevails." The
better to enforce their opinion on the subject, they drew up a
paper embodying their views on the administration and objects
of punishment, copies of which they desired the Treasurer to
place in the hands of all present and future masters. The
following is a copy of the paper, which the Friends entitled —
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 6g
" OBSERVATIONS ON PUNISHMENT."
" Punishment is intended as a restraint on Evil, and should be inflicted
with Coolness and Resolution, without the least Appearance of Passion, for
where Passion is discovered there is Reason to believe that Revenge has some
Share in the Punishment, and that the Master is not influenced by a sincere
Concern for the welfare of his Scholar.
" The less Severe Punishment is the better, provided the End is answered,
but in some cases it should be more severe than in others.
"Telling a wilful Lye, taking God's Name in vain. Swearing, Stealing,
and other gross Immoralities, may be punished with the Rod, which when-
ever used should be done with much Solemnity.
"Fighting regular pitched Battles is a great Offence and ought to be
severely punished, though in a less Degree than the former Immoralities.
" Accidental Quarrelling and Fighting is a much less Offence.
"Disobedience to the Treasurer or Masters' general Orders, such as talking
in School or at improper Times, disorderly behaviour at Meeting or at Din-
ner, going out of the Bounds of the Premises, calling Nicknames, &c., may
be punished with the Loss of Play, or Loss of a Meal, or in very particular
Cases of Disobedience to Orders, with the Rod.
"On some Lads Shame will have the best effect, and sometimes the
Punishment of the Ringleader will be sufficient.
"Forfeits are suitable Punishments for laying Cloathes, HatSj &c., in
improper Places, blotting the Desks in School, losing Buckles, &c., but
these Forfeits should be small, and divided amongst the Lads at suitable
times.
" It is of great Consequence to give Children a just notion of the Advan-
tages attending Order and Neatness, but above all things they should have
a religious Education. Their tender Minds should as much as possible be
impressed with an awful Reverence of their gracious Creator, for certainly
' the Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom, and is a Fountain of
Life to preserve from the Snares of Death.'
' ' If they keep to it, it will preserve them in the slippery Paths of Youth
and give them the unspeakable Comfort of a good Conscience.
" It will convince them of the Propriety and Necessity of keeping to
Plainness of Speech, Behaviour, and Apparel, of being compassionate one
to another, of loving as Brethren, of being pitiful and courteous.
70 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH i-CHOOL
"The fashionable Manners of the World will bear no comparison with
this simplicity of a true Christian, and therefore it is very desirable that
Children should be most particularly instructed and confirmed in these
Principles of a religious Education."
The Report from the Women Friends gave a much more
satisfactory view of the state of things in the girls' wing and in
the women's domestic departments, every part of which they
had evidently very carefully investigated ; and it is some relief
to its picture of the boys' side to find in the Report a sentence
like the following —
"Things appear in good order and generally very agreeably conducted.
The diUgence and care of those who are principally concerned in the
weightiest parts, as school-mistress, housekeeper, etc., claimed our par-
ticular attention, their conscientious concern being manifest to execute the
great trust reposed in them, and they, with divers others, we believe deserve
to be encouraged and their hands strengthened, which we have endeavoured
to do, as also to administer admonition, information, and advice, 'as occasions
seemed to require."
The bloom of early prosperity had given place to a condition
of things on the boys' side, which now began to raise fears in
the minds of parents. In 1784, as we have seen, there were
in the School 326 children. At the beginning of 1787 the
number was 300, but from that time it steadily decreased, and
by the end of the year it was only 267. It reached the lowest
point of this period in the Fifth Month following, when it was
265 — viz. 159 boys and 106 girls. The ebbing of numbers
quickly alarmed the friends of the School, whose minds had
already become very sensitive from the results of their recent
investigation. The Committee now began to scrutinise the
capabilities of their masters, and, in Seventh Month, 1787, one of
them was "tenderly acquainted" that he did not suit, and he left
immediately. The following month another was thought "too
young and inexperienced," and a substitute was advertised for.
A few months afterwards a third, who had held an important
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 7 1
position in the School for half-a-dozen years, had fallen into
disfavour, as we find from the following minute : — " This Com-
mittee, being dissatisfied with Thomas Binns, is fully of opinion
that his services had better be dispensed with;" but, as if
anxious not to treat that Friend cavalierly, they "desired to
have the concurrence of the London Committee to dismiss
him after giving proper notice." But Thomas Binns was not
to be ejected without remonstrance. He appealed to be heard,
in person, at the next assembly of the Committee, which body,
" having heard his defence, against divers complaints made
against him," minutes its will that his case should be continued.
Thomas Binns must have felt that his suit was half won, and
two months afterwards a compromise was effected, by which
the Committee and he were reconciled. He had evidently
established an iinperium in imferio, as strong men are want to
do under a weak rule, and it is no reflection on the Superin-
tendent, John Hill, to say that he had now reached a venerable
age, which carried with it its natural infirmities. He had often
requested to be released, but the Committee, who greatly
honoured him, as often urged his stay ; but there can be no
question that, latterly, he had been unequal to the guidance
of affairs, and it is easy to understand how Thomas Binns
should have assumed a course too independent for the Com-
mittee's ideas of a true balance of authority. The fact was,
that that true and desirable balance had become impossible.
Thomas Binns, however, abandoned the position he had taken
up, and the Committee agreed " to continue him on trial in his
present employ."
Nor was this active scrutiny into the condition of their staff"
the only effort the Committees made to restore the aspects of
prosperity to their School. They retained children long beyond
the usual limit of thirteen years. Several girls were allowed to
remain until fifteen years old or more. The London Com-
mittee proposed to open the School to children of eight years
72 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
of age, but to this proposition the Country Committee demurred,
"being of opinion that great inconvenience would be likely to
accrue from an alteration of that kind, and that some more
eligible expedient of increasing the number of children might
be adopted." Such an expedient the members of that Com-
mittee themselves proposed the following month. They
suggested that Friends in "middling" circumstances should
be encouraged to send their children, also that Monthly
Meetings should be advised to admit into membership " at an
earlier period the offspring of marriages, contrary to the Rules
of our Society," and, bolder still, " other children, not entitled
to membership, who are in such situation that the Society can
extend a proper care over them," that "such, then, might be
recommended to this School, and make some addition to the
number." In 1788, however, the subject attracted the attention
of the Yearly Meeting, which, in a special appeal in favour of
the School sent down to the country, lowered the limit of the
age of admission from nine to eight years. Either from
dissatisfaction with the management or suspicion of the mis-
appropriation of the School to classes for which it was popularly
supposed not to be intended, the subscriptions of Friends,
having greatly decreased since 1784 when they amounted to
,5^1593 4s. od., made a sudden plunge in 1787 from ^^1053
13s. gd., collected the year before, \.o ;£\\\ is. od. — little
more than one tenth. The Yearly Meeting of 1788 urged
strongly upon Friends the great necessity for liberality, and the
amount again rose that year, but only to £,<)i>'i i6s. 6d. It is
pleasant to us not to have to close the account of this some-
what unhappy aspect of affairs without a brighter feature.
Confidence, if rudely shaken, was more quickly restored than
might have been expected, and by the Tenth Month, 1789, the
number of the boys had again risen to 191, when the Committee
once more breathed freely, and minuted the desirability of
"rather decreasing than increasing the number of boys, as the
School is now too full, and exceeds the limited number."
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 73
In the autumn of 1789, John Hill, who had in the early years
of the Institution administered its affairs faithfully and assidu-
ously, and had for some later years, with failing faculties,
struggled to accommodate a Committee perhaps, then, too little
aware of the importance of the presence, in the head of such
an establishment, of activity and energy, now, not for the first
time, pleaded before the Committee his failing health, his
extreme deafness, and, perhaps, his broken memory, (for it is well
known that it had become very treacherous) as urgent reasons
for his being liberated from his onerous post. He had served
the School voluntarily, without remuneration, for ten years, and
there is something pathetic in the manner in which the worn
out old man, who had nursed this infant giant of our educa-
tional system, yearned to deliver his still precious charge into
stronger hands. The Committee saw that the strain upon him
could not be continued, and, without any successor in prospect,
yielded to his request, at the same time presenting him with
two hundred guineas, as a mark of their esteem and gratitude.
No Friend coming forward, voluntarily, to supply John Hill's
place, the Committee requested Thomas Hodgkin to accept the
post temporarily, in Fifth Month, 1790, and this he consented
to do until a new Treasurer should present himself Thomas
Hodgkin had entered the Institution as a master in First Month,
1 781, being then a married man. He and his wife had apart-
ments in the School, with, the understanding that one of the
domestics should wait upon them. But the Committee had
not foreseen the birth of a little Hodgkin, and were, apparently,
sorely perplexed by the problem of its advent. It was beyond
their powers of solution, and they appealed for light to the
luminaries of London. The latter cut the Gordian knot by
declaring that the infant must be turned out, or, in their more
euphonious language, "be put out to nurse." This plan of
escaping from their unprecedented perplexity, the Country
Committee was fain to adopt, and the decree for its expulsion
y4 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
went forth. How the poor parents bore the sentence, our
records do not say, but a teacher's lot at that day had many
hardships, and it is not yet a bed of roses. We know that
Thomas Hodgkin did not abandon his post in adverse times,
but bravely served his generation in it until he had made
himself so indispensable to the School as to be honoured, though
for a brief hour, by the possession of its highest distinction.
Within three months of this appointment, however, a sug-
gestion was made to John Hipsley that he should take into
consideration whether he could not accept the office, and the
following month a deputation from the Committee waited upon
him, to receive the result of his deliberation. He appeared to
be prepared to enter upon the service, but deemed it desirable
that a clear understanding should exist between himself and
the Committee, in regard to some personal conveniences,
before he did so. He requested permission to bring his horse
and two-wheeled chaise, for his own use, with the understanding
that they should be maintained at the expense of the Institution ;
to bring with him his daughter, in addition to his wife, who was
to assume the position of mistress of the family ; and, if need
were, his son also, then a youth of fifteen. The Committee,
having apparently accepted his conditions, John Hipsley sig-
nified his wilhngness to enter upon the duties of Treasurer
and Superintendent in the following Second Month.
Meantime, a period of some disorder set in. In the middle
of 1790 the School was very full, there being 197 boys and
109 girls, and the Masters became unequal to the disciplinary
- demands made upon them. The friends of the boys became
much concerned, and letters began to reach the Committee,
complaining seriously of the state of things amongst them.
On investigating the matter more particularly, the Committee
came to the conclusion that there was considerable exaggeration
in the outside reports, but, notwithstanding, dismissed two of
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 75
the masters. There is no question that the disciphne became
at this time very loose, and continued so until John Hipsley
assumed the reins, which he handled with no uncertain or
feeble grasp. The establishment quickly perceived the vigorous,
if not severe, energy which the new Superintendent possessed,
and, not without a struggle, found itself obliged to yield to the
master spirit. A great improvement was almost at the same
moment effected in the sanitary arrangements of the Establish-
' ment. The old system of drainage had long been imperfect,
and in 1791 a fine new drain was constructed. This structure
was most carefully executed, and shewed an interior measure-
ment of two feet wide by three feet high. It is perhaps
singular that this improvement in the health arrangements
should have been exactly coincident with a case of that
loathsome disease — Leprosy — in the School, and also with the
appearance of five cases of small pox. The former was a very bad
case, and, as soon as its real character was known, the boy was
removed into the village until he could be suitably sent home. On
the appearance of the small pox, all who had not had the disorder
were inoculated, — the number so treated being forty-seven.
The Committee about this time became conscious that their
classes on the boys' side were much too large and resolved to
create a new or fifth School, which was opened in 1791, into
which were drafted those who were the worst readers; reading, —
from the frequency with which it appears to have been regarded
as the most important of the subjects at that time taught, —
being clearly considered the standard of intellectual excellency.
This is almost the first organic change made in the class
■arrangements from the early times. The alteration does not
appear to have produced any immediate improvement in the
state of education or discipline, for before the following year
ran out the Committee found it necessary to appoint some of
their members to enquire, more particularly than the general
body could do, into the state of things generally amongst the
76 , HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
boys; and these friends reported that "the situation of the
Schools required a closer attention from the Committee than
had been generally given thereto," and that they " found a
deficiency in some of the masters, with respect to that religious
care and exercise which gives true authority and creates, in
the minds of the children, that due mixture of love and fear,
whereby only they can be rightly instructed either in a civil or
religious education." This severe censure they enforced by
suggesting that some of the London Committee should
be invited to unite with them in a further investigation
into this and some other things. This suggestion was carried
out, and it is interesting and satisfactory to find that the final
report of the mixed Committee of investigation contains no
such severe strictures, as the above, upon the style of discipline.
In their report we learn something of the extent to which
they desired English Grammar to be taught — the maximum
number of boys whom they thought it needful to instruct in
that subject being seventy, all boys under eleven years of age
being strictly excluded from the privilege of learning it.
We have already mentioned the generous liberality adopted
by the Committee towards the domestic servants of the
establishment. The extreme care it had ever exercised in the
selection of them and the practice of receiving all "on trial,"
in the first instance, had secured a class of devoted people
who appear rarely to have disappointed their employers. The
latter, not content with giving presents, in reward for this
faithful service, had so often raised the wages of their servants
that their rates of payment were commented upon as being on
much too high a scale. On enquiring they found that their
standard was considerably above that of the country around.
A small committee, appointed to consider the question,
decided that whilst it would be unadvisable to make changes
in the wages of the existing staff, it was important to have a
recognised standard, in harmony with that in vogue outside,
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 77
and their proposition resulted in the arrangement of a scale of
wages, which may be interesting for comparison with that of
the present day. The houseman was to receive ;£io a year,
the cook ;i^io los., the cook's assistant ^d los., the chamber-
maid £,%, the up-stair's housemaid ^^6, the down-stair's maid
£,(> 6s., the dairy maid £,1, the governess's maid £,(i, the
kitchen maid ^5. In the enumeration of the duties of the
down-stair's maid, attached to this scale of wages, occurs an
item that indicates that the boys at that time had dining-room
table-cloths — a luxury which some after generation forfeited,
and which was not restored until comparatively modern
times. The maid who had " to assist the boys in laying their
table-cloth in a proper manner'' was required "to sweep the
boys' dining-room immediately after every meal"— an indication
of cleanliness which is interesting. Before passing away from
the statistics bearing on the wages of the domestics, it may be
well to state that, at this time, it was the practice to place in
the accounts the supposed cost of living of various officers —
that of a book-keeper, schoolmaster, mistress, apprentice and
matron was put down at;^i2 each per annum. As an ap-
proximation this may have been tolerably correct, but, a few
years after this, the London Committee suggested to the
Country body that the sum should be^^ao.
The want of harmony existing, about this time, between the
two Committees is often referred to, but we believe an ex-
aggerated view of it exists in many minds, and, with a desire
not lightly to recover what might perhaps with advantage be
forgotten, but to remove suspicions of greater dissension than
ever existed, it is probably best to give a brief outline of it here.
As was quite natural, the two Committees could not always
see eye to eye. In 1793, a friend, having sent a child to
school and paid voluntarily a donatkin, in consideration of an
opinion expresed by the Committee " that a distinction ought
to be» made betwixt the children of those who are not in a
78 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
situation to require the charitable assistance of the Institution,
nor yet in such circumstances as to render it prudent to be
at the expense of other Boarding Schools," the London Com-
mittee, observing the item, submitted that friends who could
give donations must belong to a social class above the rank of
those for whom the school was intended. With this theory
the Country Committee disagreed and retorted that, until the
Yearly Meeting should be pleased to express the objects of the
Institution in terms different from that of " Children of Parents
itot in Affluent Circumstances," they should think it right to
receive the children of people in positions similar to those of
the Friend referred to, and that, if such did present donations,
intended to supplement the price of bills of admission, it was
desirable to enter such gifts with a due description of their
object. This matter was something of a bone of contention
between the Committees, but the most unhappy source of
disagreement arose out of some rumours prejudicial to the
school, which obtained ground in the south of England, on
hearing of which, the Country Friends, probably apprehensive
or suspicious that some members of the London Committee were
not free from blame in the matter, informed that Committee
in the autumn of 1793, "that divers reports were circulated
in London to the discredit of the management of the Institution,
and we, therefore, desire that you will enquire more particularly
thereinto and inform us the results thereof, in order that such
reports may be properly investigated, and the Authors of them
fnade known." We italicise these last words as those which
probably most offended. The London Committee ignored the
claim, and, the following month, the country Friends demanded
that their request should be acceded to — " We require in the
first place that the names of the authors of these charges be
.produced, without which we can only consider them slander."
Each month, this unpleasant business continued to engage
much of the time arjd attention of the Committees the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 79
London Friends being unwilling to disclose the names of the
offenders, the Country Friends still declaring that they could not
consider such anonymous disseminators of charges, " as sincere
friends of the Institution, as sincerity would have led to a
different mode of enquiry, and, as we now stand charged, we
think it indispensably necessary that our accusers ought to be
made known, if not seen face to face ; this being complied with
we are ready to meet the reports to the fullest extent." The
London Committee would appear to have expected that their
country brethren should minute on their books the various
charges, but, as one of them reflected on the Treasurer, the
Country Friends refused to do so but, almost in the language of
indignant scorn, did refer to one of the charges in the
following terms : " This Committee judges it a disgrace to our
records to report charges of a trivial nature, such as the
evaporation of the broth and the scraping of the trenchers."
Harrassed by these attacks from unseen and irresponsible
antagonists, weary with seeking, in vain, for satisfaction, mindful
also of difficulties which had often before arisen with their
London brethren whom, from their distance from the school,
and their slender opportunity of understanding the actual
working of its machinery, they could not but consider less
able to judge of its details than themselves, the members of
the Country Committee were early in 1794 betrayed into a
desire, if not to get rid of the London Executive altogether, to
seek for some new form of government, under which they
might be delivered from the tangle of perplexities, of which
they were so heartily weary. They entered on their books the
following resolution : —
"As it now appears, from the experience of a considerable number of
years, that the government of this Institution, under the direction of two
Committees so remote from each other, has been the source of frequent
uneasiness and misunderstanding, as it is in many cases difficult to explain
matters which come before us, with sufficient clearness in writing ; we
8o HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
believe it is become necessary to represent the case to the ensuing adjourn-
ment of tlie General Meeting, and suggest to the consideration of the
London Committee the expediency of its uniting with us, herein, and
preparing a proposition to the General Meeting for it to consider of some
mode of government, less liable to the difficulties which unavoidably
attend the present form."
The London Committee, naturally enough, refused to
entertain the proposition. The Country Committee resolutely
maintained its attitude for some time, and also now addressed
itself to the defence of its Superintendent — John Hipsley —
whose practice of sitting with, and taking part in the de-
liberations of the Committee, as one of its members cx-offido
had been freely assailed. It is but right, that the deliberate
record of the opinion of a Committee respecting the friend,
whose management and position had been so seriously
challenged, but which had given such entire satisfaction to the
Home Committee, should here appear in full. At this distance
of time it is not difficult to see how much was to be said
in favour of placing at the head of an establishment, like
Ackworth School, a man chosen for his ability to fulfil the
duties of a Superintendent, paid for his discharge of them and
held responsible for so doing, and the l,ondon Committee did
great service to the Institution, not only by pointing out the
desirability of this, but by fearlessly exposing features of the
management, to the injurious influence of which they believed
the Country Committee was not fully alive. But, on the other
hand, the loyalty to their trusted officer displayed by the
Country Committee, in the following resolution, is worthy of all
admiration ; —
" We cannot avoid believing that the proposition for excluding the
Treasurer from sitting in the Country Committee originates in a want of
the like knowledge as the Country Committee have of the acceptable
manner in which he has filled and continues to fill the department he is
placed in, and we hope the Friends of the London Committee, on duly
adverting to the circumstances of his conduct being so much more im-
mediately under our notice than theirs, will be satisfied that we are more
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 8 1
competent than they to judge of his abilities and care for preserving order,
and for the discharge of the trust reposed in him, and that they will also see
the danger that may attend the introducing a hired Treasurer, and the being
deprived of a friend who serves the Institution disinterestedly, and who
has the approbation of the Country Committee, in such a manner as the
present Treasurer has."
This defence did not improve the condition of things — on
the contrary the breach widened. The Home Committee
refused to make a reply to the " charges," and demanded the
consideration ofa change of government; tlie London Committee
resolutely refused to advance the latter and as firmly demanded
the former. The Adjourned General Meeting came and issued
the request that the Country Committee " do furnish their
London brethren with the information desired." Before
issuing this order, however, it expunged two of the complaints
itself.
Unconvinced, but loyal to the higher authority, the Home
Committee addressed itself to its acknowledged duty. Wasting
no words in vain regrets, hurling no darts at its criminators, it
simply minuted : — " In compliance with, and condescension
to that Meeting's judgment this Committee appoints
to make enquiry into the several charges of complaint
and prepare a report."
It is impossible to withhold the tribute of admiration from
the noble men, who had long laboured assiduously in the
work of the Institution, had endured the calumnies (for such
many of the charges proved) of men whom they were not
permitted to meet or even to know, who had marked out and
struggled resolutely for a reform in the government of the
School, which they deemed of almost vital importance, who
yet, in the hour of defeat, could quietly and dutifully acquiesce
in and promptly execute the behests of a judgment which they
must have disapproved.
82 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
The charges were originally ten in number. The report
deals with the eight retained for explanation by the adjourned
General Meeting. Three of these the Country Committee
declared to be absolutely false. The remaining five contain
complaints of the use of meat of an inferior quality, the
increased use of salt meat, insufficiency in the supply of
meat, insufficiency in supply of beer, and want of facility
for obtaining drinking water at various times of the day. The
replies furnished to these items are, that the best fresh meat
was supplied, and that the proportion of salt meat had not
increased ; the Committee acknowledged, however, that inju-
dicious carving had sometimes resulted in " several being
over-served and some rather short," but denied that this arose
from insufficiency in the quantity placed on the table, except on
rare occasions, as in bad-keeping weather, when the deficiency
was made up in bread and cheese or bread and butter.- It
stated that the beer supplied had not decreased in quantity
(but the report suggested that more might properly be supplied
as a larger number of the boys drank it than formerly) and that
the boys had reasonable access to drinking water.
The tolerably clean bill which it had thus been able to pre-
sent encouraged the Country Committee to repeat its demand
that the " Author or authors of these charges should be given
up, in order that some measures might be taken to discourage
such slanderous conduct in future."
The words of the London Committee now became much more
gracious and, without yielding the redress which their country
friends would best have liked, its members shewed a disposition
to smooth things down and declared their intention to "be
more careful in future how they recorded reports injurious to
the Institution."
It was long before the Home Committee could settle down
without a more express confession of the falseness of the charges,
or without having the satisfaction of knowing who their detractors
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 83
had been. They were still in the mood for a moral pillory
of the culprits, and returned again and again to the subject,
impelled by their sense of outraged justice, but all in vain.
Their London brethren would not yield up the desired names,
and on the first of Eleventh Month, 1794, the country Friends,
"■^for the sake of peace," made their last minute on the bad busi-
ness, and it appeared no more.
Whilst this perplexing matter weighted the Committee, a little
circumstance occurred which was perhaps especially trying from
its taking place whilst the School was under a cloud and when
every untoward event might act with double force in the con-
firmation of unfavourable impressions. Four of the boys
absconded one night, after all had retired to their bed-rooms,
and their absence was not discovered until the following morn-
ing, when messengers were sent along all the roads in search
of them, but without success. They were not found until the
next day when a Friend, on his way to attend the Committee,
fell in with them, and brought them back. The Committee
carefully interrogated them — having " a close conference with
them individually" — but could not elicit from them that they '
had any reasonable cause of dissatisfaction. Three of them
were evidently very troublesome boys, as they had been reported
to the Committee the month before for misconduct, and been
censured by that body. They probably often attempted in after-
times to glorify themselves through the story of their escapade,
but, if legend does not lie, they had a very sorry and a very hungry
time of it and were heartily glad to be led back to their home.
We have already seen that the Committee and Thomas Binns
had not been always able to act in harmony and, either from
difference of opinion on disciplinary questions or a tendency
on his part to a high-handed policy, in 1793, when he had
occupied his important post for a dozen years, difficulties again
arose between them, and the Committee thought it best that he
should leave.
G 2
CHAPTER IV.
THE "flags" — JOHN HIPSLEY RETIRES — IS SUCCEEDED BY
DR. BINfNS^ DONATIONS TO RETIRING OFFICERS ROBERT
WHITAKER ENTERS AS "BOOK-KEEPER AND ASSISTANT IN
THE schools" DEFICIENT INCOME — HIGH PRICE' OF FOOD
TERMS RAISED ; OPINIONS THEREUPON — A COMMITTEE OF
ECONOMY AND ITS SUGGESTIONS BILL OF FARE — SCARCITY
OF READING-BOOKS — A LIBRARY FOUNDED YEARS OF DEAR
BREAD — SOCIAL DIFFICULTIES AMONGST OFFICERS.
-We must not pass by this period without referring to one
feature of the premises which then had its origin and which has
been associated with an amount of enjoyment which it would
perhaps be impossible to over-estimate. To association with it,
it is probable that numbers of old Ackworth Scholars attribute
genial influences which, if they have not absolutely ruled the
rest of their lives, have at least shaped many of their treasured
feelings and preserved some of their best natural gifts from
hardening into uselessness. In 1793 the Committee gave orders
" that a path of flag-stones, not exceeding six feet in breadth,
be made from the Committee room steps to the garden gates."
If those " flag-stones" could record all that has passed upon
them, what a sum of human happiness — what a roll of sacred
memories —would shine upon their annals ! In this brief
History of Ackworth School little is recorded of the doings on
the girls' side of the house. The turbulent elements of human
life usually attract the pen of the annalist more than the gentle
influences that guide and control its best interests and its truer
happiness ; and the documents, upon which the history of this
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 85
early period is chiefly based, deal little with the smoother and
gentler life of the West Wing. Doubtless, moving events, passion-
ate experiences, stories of suffering and mad struggles with the
unconquerable, little tragedies and noble deeds, have all made
a mighty history amongst the inhabitants of that part of the
School, but in all things of this nature documentary evidence is
silent. But of all the forces existent in human elements it is
probable that not one has exerted an influence more powerful
and permanent upon large masses of old Ackworth Scholars
than the gracious and ennobling converse of the sisters and
cousins of the West Wing upon the boys of all time since those
" Flags" became their happy rendezvous.
Towards the close of 1794 John Hipsley intimated to the
Committee his wish to retire at an early date. He remained,
however, until Fifth Month, 1795, when a prospect opened of
the post being filled by Dr. Jonathan Binns, then a Physician
in a large and lucrative practice in Liverpool. His appointment
was made at the General Meeting, but he did not enter upon
his duties until the 24th of Tenth Month. This year also Isaac
Payne, who afterwards became a highly successful school-master
at Epping, to whom Isaac Brown, late Principal of the Flounders
College, was articled, entered upon his term of apprenticeship
to Ackworth School.
We have, at a former period, referred to the generous kindness
of the Committee towards such of its ofiicers as distinguished
themselves by faithful service. Whilst it gave its handsome
purse of 200 guineas to men like John Hill and John Hipsley,
as marks of esteem and gratitude, we have seen that it did not
neglect its humble domestics ; and about the time of which we
now write, John Brewin, having reached the termination of his
apprenticeship, received a present of ;^ii, in addition to the
ordinary apprentice's retiring fee of ;!^io, in consideration of
his having done good service whilst the Institution was short of
86 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
one of its staff of- masters. Again, when John Hipsley jun.,
who had for some years filled the post of book-keeper, was
about to retire, soon after this time, the Committee shewed its
wonted consideration— though on that occasion in a novel but
probably a very useful form — by " agreeing to give him a small
horse, which (was) not of much use to the Institution, as a
gratuity for his acceptable services." The Committee had just
before voted thirty guineas to Joseph Birkbeck, who had very
kindly spent much time at the School whilst the post of Super-
intendent was vacant. And whilst its salaries were on a very
liberal scale, it did not overlook the necessities of its humbler
out-door officers. Seventeen hundred and ninety-six was a year
of dear bread and we find it raising the wages of the chief
shoemaker, Samuel Whalley, to eighteen shillings a week, in
consequence of " the high price of the necessaries of life."
The advent upon the stage of one who was long and faith-
fully and ably to guide the fortunes of the Institution and
whose name links a distant past of the School with days almost
. modern, is foreshadowed in a simple minute of Fourth Month
1796, which will have an interest for the older generation of
Ackworth scholars : —
" It is agreed that Robert Whitaker come hither on Trial in the Situation
of Bool<-keeper and Assistant in the Schools, or other matters wherein the
Superintendent may think proper to employ him. Jonathan Binns is desired
to request him to come as soon as he can conveniently. The Superintendent
is desired to get the House repaired, where Thomas Binns lately resided, for
his reception, and also the Garden palisaded, agreeably to the Direction of
the Sub-Committee who viewed it."
Robert Whitaker entered upon his duties on the nth of Sixth
Month, 1796. The liberal conditions upon which he was
received shew that the Committee had formed high expectations
of him, and it was not slow to improve his position. He was
born at Oakenhead Wood, near Haslingden, in the year 1766.
He was the son of pious parents, of the Baptist persuasion, and,
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 87
in the years almost of infancy, displayed unusual intellectual
promise. Having passed through the best schools of his native
place with much credit, he was, at an early age, sent to a
clergyman for the classics and mathematics, in which depart-
ments he would appear to have made rapid progress. His
delight in literary pursuits led him to choose, for his career, the
profession of teacher; and the post of school-master in the
Friends' School at Crawshabooth being vacant, he was appointed
to it, when only eighteen years of age. The School was' held
on the Meeting-house premises and, on the days when the mid-
week meetings for worship took place, the School closed one
hour earlier than usual, to accommodate them. Robt. Whitaker
began to attend these, and soon found the views of Friends so
much in harmony with his own that he joined the Society. He
speedily became much associated with the Friends of that part
of the country, many of them at that time people of much cul-
ture ; and on the occasion of a visit of Priscilla Hannah Gurney
to that district, she became acquainted with Robt. Whitaker, in
whom she recognised a Friend suitable to conduct an enterprise
which she and Richard Reynolds of Colebrook-dale had for
some time desired to carry out — that of establishing a Friends'
Boarding School in the Principality of Wales. Robert Whitaker,
then a married man, gladly undertook the charge of the new
establishment, at Llanidloes, in Montgomery.'^ Here he
remained four years, when his wife, who had very keenly felt the
isolation of her Welsh home, became so anxious for a change,
that Robert Whitaker was induced to present himself for the
post vacant in the office at Ackworth.
The price of provisions having been very high in 1796 and
the prospects being no brighter, in the Spring of the following
* The School accommodated only twelve boarders — six boys and six girls —
but it was well supplied with day scholars, many of whom came from a
distance and were boarded in the town, for the purpose of securing the highly
appreciated education to be obtained at the "English School."
88 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
year the Committee began to see that a time was approaching
■when the income of the School would become insufficient
without additional sources of supply and proposed to the
London Committee that the price of admission tickets should
be advanced. Uniting in this opinion, the London Committee
prepared a proposal to be submitted to the following General
Meeting, in which it suggested that the charge should be
advanced from £B 8s. od. to ^lo los. od., or that some
method of relief should be initiated. The impecunious con-
dition into which the School was drifting alarmed the General
Meeting, which, instead of contenting itself with its usual
diminutive Report to the Yearly Meeting, issued the following
perspicuous and earnest appeal : —
" From the great advance that in the two last years took place in several
articles of provision, and other causes as mentioned in the printed Report
of last year, the Institution has expended nearly ji'2000 more than its income ;
and, notwithstandmg the apparently large balance of capital in favour of the
Institution, as stated in the account of the present year,' is likely to be
involved in very serious difficulties, without the vigorous exertions of Friends
in their several Quarterly Meetings ; most of which, notwithstanding the
advice of the Yearly Meeting, have been very far from coming properly
forward in their support, to a School which is so evidently a benefit to
society.
" It has been, probably, some obstacle to the generosity of individuals to
observe the large amount of the balance above mentioned ; but it must
be remembered, that this is in a great degree made up of the prices which
the buildings, land, and subsequent improvements have cost, and that the
net annual produce of the whole is but about ;^220. The sums received
with children is about ;f 2500 per annum, making together about ^■i.Ti.o.
The remainder of the income, so as to make it sufficient to answer the
expenditure, which, in common years, is about ;^4000, although no interest
be paid to the American fund, and for the two last years has been upwards
of ;^5ooo, is to be obtained from the uncertain supply of donations, legacies,
and the annual collection.
" Now, it has been proposed, as an expedient to increase the income, to
raise the price of the admission of children to ten guineas each, which would
produce, on three hundred, £(>'}P per annum ; but it is thought that this
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 89
would occasion so heavy a burden on such as are least able to bear it, as to
make it expedient to waive it at least for one year, until other expedients
shall be tried.
"It is therefore hoped that the Quarterly Meetings in general will exert
themselves in future in their annual collections, with a degree of vigour
beyond that which they seem hitherto to have used ; and it is proposed to
agents, when they recommend the children of those parents, who though
not in affluence, cannot, from their circumstances, claim to receive a benefit
for eight guineas, which has of late cost the School nearly double that sum
to bestow, to put the parents upon supplying, through the channel of the
Monthly Meeting Collections, a sum equal to what their circumstances will
allow them to afford, above the usual price of eight guineas.
*******
' ' Signed in and on behalf of the General Meeting, the 29th of the
Fifth Month, 1797.
"JOSEPH GURNEY."
This appeal was temporarily successful. The annual sub-
scriptions which, in 1795, had been only ^£'801, and in 1796
;^iii5, rose this year 10^^1550, whilst donations applicable
to current expenditure suddenly sprang up from ^60 the
previous year to £,i1A- Every reasonable effort was also
made to reduce the expenditure. Indeed, prior to the Yearly
Meeting, a sub-Committee had gone through every department
very carefully, in search of means of economising. The Friends
constituting this Committee reported that they found no serious
extravagance any where, but that they did not feel satisfied with
the large consumption of ale and beer. They found a consider-
able increase in the expenditure for malt, and thought that 100
gallons of table beer and 50 gallons of ale were a large quantity
to be consumed weekly. The amount of malt, used in the
manufacture of the beverages, they thought very large for the
amount produced, the beer being made at the rate of twelve
and a half gallons to the bushel, and the ale at that of eight
gallons and one third to the bushel. They also expressed
their perplexity to understand how so large an amount of
the stronger beverage could be disposed of Having also
go HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL '
discovered that it was not the practice to measure out the malt
to the brewer, they questioned whether all its virtue were
extracted. They thought, too, that some loss had been suffered
from thd* practice of buying an inferior quality of "stuff" for
the girls' clothing, whilst they thought another article of their
dress made of a material needlessly costly. But they concluded
their report with the opinion that the very high price of " grain
and meat " was the chief cause of the increased expenditure.
Although they found that the amount consumed was greater,
and also that the milk was subjected to " less admixture " than
heretofore, they endorsed the Superintendent's arrangements
in these matters, as being done with the view of raising the
standard of health. Their report mentions incidentally that
13,386 gallons of milk were used per annum, at the price of
sixpence a gallon, but it does not state how much of it went
to the making of butter, which was included.
In consequence of the increase in the subscriptions and
donations, as well as some reduction in the price of several
articles of consumption, the expenditure of 1797 was kept
within the income but, the following year, the donations fell
to £i,(i and the subscriptions to ;^ 11 29; the consequence of
which was that the General and Yearly Meetings saw no
alternative to raising the terms to ^^lo los. This was done
with reluctance and not without opposition. Small as the
original charge of eight guineas may appear to some of the
present day, it probably seemed a large one to many who had
then to purchase " Bills of Admission." The opinion of
Richard Brown of Lothersdale, as expressed in a letter to Dr.
Fothergill, addressed from York Castle where he was then
confined for " conscience sake," was probably by no means
an uncommon one in 1779. He declared that to charge
eight guineas a year at a School intended for the children of
Friends "not in affluent circumstances was a contradiction in
terms." And David Barclay, than whom few Friends perhaps
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 91
shewed a deeper interest in the foundation and prosperity of
the School, has left on record some observations on the subject,
which manifest a similar view. When some Friends proposed
early in 1799 to raise the terms, he expressed the opinion that
even eight guineas were too high, saying, —
"If prices advance, subscriptions will reduce. Many poor Friends, who
will struggle to pay eight, will not attempt ten."
"Advance would encourage Friends to send children who should not."
' ' When the Institution was established, the Bills of Admission were
fixed so high as eight guineas, because the large sum of ;!f 10,065 h^c^ heen
raised in one year by donations and annuities, to purchase, repair, and
furnish the premises ; but ii was hoped that the Bills would soon be red-uced
to six guineas, and then to four guineas, and I am of opinion that might now
be done if Friends would exert their benevolence equal to their pecuniary
abilities."
The Yearly Meeting having less confidence than David
Barclay, either in the benevolence or the pecuniary ability of
Friends, and having raised the terms, resolved that all un-
necessary sail should be furled now that their craft was to be
worked under untried and doubtful conditions, and a "Com-
mittee of CEconomy" was formed, which sat at Devonshire
House and spent many days amongst the accounts, minutes
and whatever other sources of information it could secure,
which were calculated to throw light upon the finance, upon
almost every department of Which it made suggestions. The
salient points of its proposed reforms were not, however, numer-
ous. Elaborate alternative plans for the working of the Farm
were drawn out. Greater economy in, or closer investigation
into, the use of butter was urged. The amount of that article
consumed, in 1798, had been 2978 lbs., or 57 lbs. a week, which
the Coinmittee thought a large quantity. Thirty cows were
kept, of which twenty-two were in milk, and it thought the
number might be reduced. In the item of bread it suggested
that good wheaten flour would probably be more economical
92 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
than meslin, a mixture of wheat and rye, then in common use
in the North. (This suggestion was not adopted then.) The
Committee complained of the extravagant amount of coal
burned, but the consumption of meat troubled it even more.
It found that it had increased ten per cent, in three years — viz.
from 30,049 lbs. to 33,124 lbs., and recommended a judicious
use of soup, whilst it deprecated the use of weak broth as a
"poor aliment." Although the members of this Committee
appear to have found the ale and beer department in a much
more satisfactory condition than a former Committee, when it
was so bad that the brewer was dismissed, they considered
there was still room for improvement. The cost of the malt
and hops consumed in 1798 had decreased from the £26,-!, of
two years before to ;^ 12 5, but this did not satisfy them. They
found that ale was placed on the table at dinner and desired
that the practice should be discontinued, stating, also, their
belief that, " if the table beer came to be nicely managed, very
little ale would be desired." The scale of salaries they con-
sidered too high and desired that it should be reduced as early
as possible. But nothing appears to have offended them more
than the extravagant cost of the clothing department. The coat
of 1799 cost one-third more than that of 1782, and one-fifth
more than that of 1793, yet they state that no great rise had
taken place in the price of cloth during the intervening years,
and they ask "Is the tailor an experienced artist 1" So dissatis-
fied, if not disgusted, with this department were they, that they
expressed their inclination (not their intention) to send down
three or four coats and waistcoats "to see whether you can make
them as cheap."
At a later sitting of this " Committee of CEconomy" a Bill
of Fare for each day of the week was drawn up and, as this
remained in force, with extremely little variation, for many
generations of Ackworth Scholars, it has an interest for these
pages.
M A
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 93
" Breakfasts.— Every day Milk Porridge poured on Bread.
" Dinners ;
"First Day. — Boiled sweet Puddings with Currant.s. Sometimes
Apple Pies, and in Summer occasionally other fruit Pies or Cheese-
cakes.
" Second Day. — Beef or iUutton, dressed by steam, (sometimes a little
Pork) with Turnips, Carrots, Greens, or Potatoes, and Bread ; — no
Butter — Roast Meat may be substituted occasionally, but not often.
" Third Day. — Boiled Suet Puddings, with Sweet Sauce.
"■Fourth Day. — Meat Soup. In Summer this Dinner may be occa-
sionally changed for Bacon, with Beans, Pease, Lettuces, Roots or
Greens, and Bread ; no Butter.
" Fifth Day. — Baked batter Puddings, with Sweet Sauce ; (sometimes
baked Rice Puddings) if Milk can be spared, if not, boiled Rice
Puddings, with a few Eggs.
"Sixth Day. — Beef or Mutton, dressed by Steam, with Potatoes,
Greens, or other Vegetables, and Bread ; no Butter.
" Seventh Day. — Meat Soup."
Most old Ackworth Scholars, who have reached forty or fifty
years of age, will recognise this simple arrangement, although
more than one item they might know more readily had it borne
the epithet more familiar to them in the old and happy days.
Perhaps few of the details of the management obtained from
the Committee more thought, during the first twenty years, than
the selection of books suitable for class-reading. The range of
studies being exceedingly limited, Reading assumed proportions
of importance in the eyes of the Committee which overshadowed
the consideration of all other subjects. Good work in that
department was their ambition and upon it they expended most
of the energy they brought to bear upon the class work. Yet
their tools were few and often poor. The choice open to the
careful mind of that day was very limited. So sternly was the
moral sense of the Friend of the time set against frivolity in
94 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
any form that, had there existed comparatively harmless litera-
ture of a gay and lively sort, it is not certain that it would have
been admitted ; but as books of that type were then too usually
objectionable from their moral laxity and, as the more morally
suitable were often dull and heavy, the poverty of supply for the
Ackworth children was extreme. Fastidiously nice the Friends
who directed that department may have been, but we who live
in an age in which, from our cradles, we are surrounded with
every luxury of child-literature, from sumptuous alphabets
emblazoned with gold and colour, and rich with work from the
hands of the artist, from Robinson Crusoes in one syllable and
Sir Roger de Coverleys toned down to infantile comprehension
on the one hand, to the most complete compendiums of our
best literature, grave and gay, tragic and comic, on the other —
the range between comprising every variety a diverse taste and
opinion can demand — can probably have but a feeble idea of
the discouragement and difficulty arising from the dearth of
books adapted to school use, eighty or a hundred years ago.
It is not without interest to know that those which found most
acceptance at Ackworth were Aikin's " England Delineated,"
" Reflections and Maxims," " Goldsmith's History of England,"
a book entitled " Extracts and Original Anecdotes," and, for
occasional reading, towards the close of the century, " Collec-
tions of Debates on the Slave Trade" and Guthrie's Geography.
The last must have seemed to the young readers a wonderful
repertory of marvels and knowledge.
The difficulty of procuring suitable books for the youngest
classes on both sides was especially great. From an accidental
remark made by the Committee respecting the duties of one of
the younger teachers, in 1793, we learn that his class of twelve
or fourteen boys consisted of " only such as scarcely do more
than know their letters," in which case the difficulty must have
been at a minimum, but a stage or two beyond this .attainment
the provision seems to have been most scanty. Frequent
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 95
complaints were made of the non-existence of books adapted to
their capacity, or written in easy and familiar language. Sarah "
Trimmer's works for children found a ready acceptance from
thoughtful people and the Women's Committee obtained her
" Introduction to the Knowledge of History" for the girls.
They also introduced the reading of some Friends' Journals and
Tracts, explanatory of the distinguishing views of Friends. The
Men's Committee, more desperate or more philosophically
inclined, obtained twenty-five copies of the "Beauties of Sturm,"
compiled by Eliza Andrews. Some of the works of that ponder-
ous German had been translated into our language but a few
years before and had attracted much attention; and the adoption
of this selection from his writings was probably felt to be a safe
march with the times.
But brighter days were dawning and, before the century
closed, the first selections by Lindley Murray made their
appearance. In 1799, fifty copies of the "English Reader"
were obtained for the School, to which they must have proved
an inestimable boon, being probably much more in advance of
any work, of a similar intention, which preceded it, than it falls
behind any which have up to the present time followed it.
Much as the Committee felt the deficiency of suitable books
for the school-room, the boys and girls of a literary inclination
must have felt that for their leisure still more. There was
absolutely no thought of such a thing as a library for fifteen
years after the establishment of the School and, although the
question, then first mooted, was several times discussed in the
Committee during the next two years, no action was taken
until 1796, when the establishment of one was resolved upon,
and it was proposed to appeal to the Society at large for
contributions of books suitable to the purpose and for
donations in aid of the object' All books presented were to
be subject to a censorship of the Superintendent and four
96 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
members of the Country Committee, as well as of that of five
members of the London Committee. A few months after
this resolution was passed, the business had so far advanced
as to necessitate a home for the books collected ; and the
" Secretary's old office" was set apart for it. The Committee
suggested that the room should be open to the masters and
"apprentice boys" to "retire to during the recess from the
schools."
The present century opened, as the past had closed, with
years of alarming scarcity. In 1791, the total cost of pro-
visions of all kinds was only ^1880 os. 9d. In 1796 it had
risen to £2^6"] iis. 4d. Henry Hipsley relates that his
grandfather, who had resigned the superintendency of the
School in the spring of 1795, but who was on a visit to it in
the Seventh Month of the same year, recorded that wheat was
then selling at from 96/- to 112/- per quarter and remarked
in his journal that it was " doubtful whether corn would be
found in the country at any price." Henry Hipsley further
states that he had frequently heard his father, John Hipsley
jun., who retained the post of Secretary at the School for a
while after his father left, " speak of the year of scarcity, and
of his being sent to the market at Pontefract to buy corn for
the household, at any price, when — such was the competition —
he had to place his hand in the farmer's sack, in order to secure
the wheat, the moment the bell rang for the market to begin."
And, although the prices of 1795 and 1796 were not fully
maintained during the following three years, the cost of pro-
visions was still very high. In 1800, however, the provisioning
of the School cost ;!^3665 4s. lod., whilst in 1801 it reached
the extraordinary sum of ;^378s 17s. 7d. — in the former
year nearly twice the amount of 1791, and in the latter more
than double the amount of that year. Happily for the School
and for the country, foreign markets were able to supply
England with large importations of wheat, during those two
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 97
bad years — the amount received from abroad in 1800, being
1,242,507 quarters, at an average price of 110/5 per quarter,
and, in 1801, 1,396,359 quarters at 115/11. The price of
this latter year has only been once exceeded, viz., in 1812,
when imported wheat cost on an average 122/8 per quarter.
But for this liberal foreign supply, it is difficult to know how
high the prices of home grown produce might have ranged
during the two years just referred to. In the spring of 1800,
the Committee, in harmony with a recommendation issued by
the government for reducing the general consumption of wheat,
gave orders that, during the "scarcity," no wheat should be
dressed for fine flour except such as was absolutely required for
puddings and pies, and that the dressings of such wheat should,
with the exception of the course bran, be put to the " bread-
meal," from which the bread was to be made. And, that there
should be no needless consumption of bread, the baker was
enjoined always to bake sufficient to supply the house for a
period extending at least one day beyond the following baking-
day. With this serious additional pressure upon their re-
sources, the Committee did not feel justified in listening to
the cry of their out-door officers for increase of wages but, not
closing their eyes to the extreme pressure to which this class
was reduced, made such presents to them as might alleviate
their temporary difficulties. The Country Committee, through-
out these trying times, met their compHcated anxieties and
difficulties with bravery and good spirit. In 1801, the London
Committee proposed to raise the terms, but their country
friends very thoughtfully considered that the class of Friends,
from whose families the School received its children, must
themselves be suffering so keenly from high prices and heavy
taxation, that they would feel any additional charge a great
burden ; and, although they anticipated a very heavy balance
against them at the close of the financial year, they advised
that it should be met by taking up a sum of money
on interest, in the hope that better times would return,
gS HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
when they might free themselves from the debt or when it
would be more easy for parents to pay heavier terms. They
instituted a rigid economy throughout the domestic department.
Three hundred and ninety-seven stones of flesh-meat were
saved, upon the consumption of 1799, and rice was liberally
drawn upon as a substitute, as is shown by a comparison of
the consumption of that article in the two years — 4 cwt. sup-
plying the family in 1799, whilst nearly 23 were consumed
in 1800, although the price in the latter year was nearly double
that of the former.
The cares of the Committee were not confined to dealing
with the scarcity. Dr. Binns's administration, however able,
appears about 1800, to have pressed somewhat heavily upon
the susceptible mind of the West Wing. The leading spirits of
that department rose against what they considered the harmful
influence of the Superintendent and his wife. To consider the
best means of coping with this serious want of harmony, the
Country Committee desired the London Committee to appoint
some of its members to unite with others of its own body
to investigate the case. That these Friends came to the
conclusion that injudicious interference had been practised,
may be supposed from their suggestions. In their report to
the general body they delicately, and, with lawyer-like euphuism,
advised that " The Superintendent be allowed to take his meals
in ordinary with his wife in their own parlour," instead of
taking them as hitherto at the public table in the house-keeper's
room with the masters and mistresses. They also suggested that
the Doctor's wife, not being in a position of responsibility,
should be requested not to interfere with the mistresses. Then,
entering into a minuteness of detail for the regulation of the
family, which was a part of the spirit of the time, they pro-
posed that the senior school-master should sit at the foot, and
the senior mistress and the housekeeper at the head of the
teachers' table at dinner and supper and that they should
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 99
be "responsible for the orderly conduct of the family at meals."
They further advised that " the family do not retire in a hurry
after dinner but wait^t least till the cloth be taken away." This
advice might be unjustly supposed to suggest the existence of
discourteous habits, or a deficiency in the two sides of the
house in the mutual enjoyment of each others society ; but
the sub-committee which tendered it believed genial social
converse to be promotive of a harmony which they deemed
it all-important to establish throughout the Institution, as may
be imagined from the import of the last phrase of their report
which may act as a gloss upon the suggestion to the more
general body of the teachers — "that the Superintendent and
the principal Mistress do maintain free and frequent inter-
course ; all shyness and reserve to be avoided as the greatest
evil." That the General Committee thought these propositions
alike wise and timely is certain, for, without exception or
modification, it directed "that they shall be adopted immediately."
That the issue of such an edict did not drive an independent
man, like Dr. Binns, into an immediate resignation of his post,
is perhaps the proof of an absence in his mind of all petty
feeling and the existence in him of a lofty trust that twisted per-
versions and misconceptions would be best rectified by patient-
endurance and the illumination with which Time usually lights
up the course of the past. It is perhaps also an indication of
his deep interest in, and sense of responsibility towards the
School, which may have fortified him to minimise the import
of the painful reflections conveyed by the document of the
Committee.
The Friends who met in the Ackworth Committee Room at
that period ascribed a potency of influence to the housekeeper's
room which they greatly desired should be fully felt. A wise
and judicious lady — Hannah Dumbleton — then presided there,
and the Committee, no doubt, believed that the society of that
room would have a refining influence upon the characters of
H 2
lOO HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the bachelor portion of the community. This was probably
well supported by facts, though whether the spasmodic effort
made by the Committee at this time to promote a closer and
more genial bond between the two sexes was, in all its issues,
quite in accord with its calculations is doubtful. The Com-
mittee had emphatically laid down the regulation that the
housekeeper's room was to be considered by the masters and
apprentices as a social resort— on one occasion of appeal
minuting their opinion as follows : — " The Library is the
proper place for the masters and apprentices to prosecute their
studies in, and the housekeeper's room is the place for such of
them as are inclined to relax from study." Forced social, like
sumptuary laws, are ever liable to miss or over-shoot the
intention of their framers, and it is rather curious that the only
occasion on which the Committee minutes the excess of social
enjoyment between teachers of the opposite Wings is when,
shortly after this time, it records its dissatisfaction with one
of the mistresses for being " of late unsteady in her con-
duct, and associating improperly with one of the apprentices"
on tke other side of the house. All the " dealing '' appears
to have been expended upon the poor lady, for the Romeo
of the story is no where brought to book. She was re-
monstrated with, but in vain. Calculating on the strength
of her tender passion she for some time refused to abandon
it. The inexorable powers left her no alternative between
doing so and retiring from her post. She then experienced,
in all its bitterness, the force of Lysander's oft told sentiment
about the " course" of such a love as hers and, probably,
deeming it a less evil to remain on the scene of her happiness
than to go out into the cold world, robbed alike of vision and
hope, she yielded to an authority she could not withstand, and
proniised "to avoid all intercourse with the young man.'' The
Committee accepted the compromise and agreed " to try her
again." The business-books do' not record the struggles and
anguish of her blighted life, but they do tell us that in
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL lOI
a few months she gave notice to leave, and it would,
perhaps, not be very romantic to infer that a place, which the
light of love had once illumined, grew to her every day more
bitterly dark when it was withdrawn.
In the spring of 1803, the Superintendent and his wife,
having kept table separate from the family for three years, the
Country Committee proposed, for the consideration of the
London Committee, the propriety of inviting them to "take
their dinners and suppers in the housekeeper's room as formerly."
CHAPTER V.
SPINNING, KNITTING, SEWING — READING-BOOKS — GEOGRAPHY-
JOSEPH DONBAVAND's WRITING COPIES — GRAMMAR THE AGE
OF LAW ^MONTHLY AND QUARTERLY COMMITTEES DIFFI-
CULTY ABOUT INVESTMENTS — THE GOVERNESS, MARY MARTIN,
RETIRES IS SUCCEEDED BY ISABELLA HARRIS SERIOUS
EPIDEMIC OF SCARLET FEVER — -DR. BINNS'S DIFFICULTIES WITH
THE COMMITTEE — HE RETIRES IS SUCCEEDED BY ROBERT
WHITAKER — SMALL POX — GARB OF THE CHILDREN REVISION
OF THE mistresses' SALARIES.
It would appear that, in the early years of the century,
attention was attracted to the large amount of time devoted,
by the girls to handicraft work, during school hours. In 1800
a rule was made that every girl should be exercised in spelling
at least one hour every day, and this was probably well observed,
but spinning, knitting and sewing still absorbed a large share of
time. The first of these three employments, indeed, received
an accession of attention from the introduction, the same year,
of new wheels which spun two threads. From some cause,
knitting was allowed to encroach seriously upon time which
the Committee thought might with advantage be devoted to
other things and,, after much discussion, a re-arrangement of the
girls' school-course was adopted, in consequence, chiefly, perhaps,
of a suggestion from the Women's Committee, which contains a
revelation of such singular devotion to the art of knitting as to
be worthy of quotation ; —
"It is believed it would be much better for the children to be in the
, sewing School a part of every day and only knit an hour or two at a time
instead of being kept in that School for two or three months together. "
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 03
The same Committee also suggested that some of the boys'
shirts, which had hitherto been made by women in the village,
at ninepence each, should be made by the girls, as affording
more variety in work than girls' garments. " The re-arrangement
of the course had been committed to two gentlemen, who no
doubt found the varying claims of sewing and knitting sufficiently
perplexing to themselves ; but if they had any clear idea how
the plan they prepared for meeting them was to be worked,
they probably had the advantage of the executive whose duty
it became to carry it into execution. The aim of it was to
ensure more sewing and less knitting, but as if reluctant to
part with the reputation of the school for excellence in the
latter art, the scheme proposed that the poor knitters should
have two or three half-days in the week for it, whilst those
more proficient in it should have but one.
Reading-Books for the younger children, of both sexes,
were still desiderata. The London Committee, in 1800,
advised the introduction, for this class, of Barbauld's Hymns
and the " Catechism of Nature," but the Country Committee
rejected them, as unsuitable, and adopted the " Rational
Dame." In 1804, however, Lindley Murray's " Spelling Book
with Reading Lessons" was gladly adopted, as supplying a
want long felt. In 1805, that author's " Sequel to the English
Reader" was introduced for the use of the upper classes. But
even more important still, as marking a decided step, into a
comparatively neglected subject, a hundred copies of Evans's
" Epitome of Geography" and some maps were obtained,
at the same time; In these early times, however, nothing
was introduced, which created more sensation or produced
more striking immediate results than Joseph Donbavand's
writing copies. Their publication in 1802 formed an era in the
School's history. It may be safely said, without challenge,
that nothing approaching their excellence had before appeared
and nothing since has equalled their beauty. They combined
I04
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
a marvellously simple grace with a fine and noble dignity
which have made them the envy of all succeeding caligraphists.
Joseph Donbavand was happy in securing a sympathetic and
skilful engraver, whose pure and brilliant work left nothing to
be desired. The early impressions may be fairly ranked
amongst works of the Fine Arts. The School at once took
300 copies, for which they paid tenpence each. They were the
means of supplying a standard of style in writing which, for
nearly half a century, conferred upon the better writers among
Ackworth scholars an enviable fame for superior penmanship.
If the school was once renowned for its excellent writing,
it was not less famous, perhaps, for its knowledge of English
Grammar. Although possessed of a manual of its own, com-
posed by some of the staff, and known, from its publisher's
name, as Thomas Coar's Grammar, the School early adopted
that by Lindley Murray. In the absence of the study of pure
mathematics and the classics, English Grammar, under the
luminous guidance of this Author, became a powerful aid to
the reasoning faculties of Ackworth Scholars and proved a
not unworthy substitute for the pursuit of the exact sciences.
This work was introduced in 1805 and retained its ascendancy
over all of the same kind for 50 years, rendering Ackworth
scholars eminent for their exact knowledge of grammatical
construction and, throughout a considerable part of that period,
for their purity of composition and diction.
Although but little information now exists from which to gauge
the moral tone of the School, during the early years of the
present century, there is no reason for doubting that the
discipline was maintained in an efficient condition by Dr. Binns.
It appears to have been an Age of Law, when multiplying rules
was thought no evil ; and the excessive use of this method of
guidance, in very trifling concerns, ranges occasionally within
the limits of the ridiculous. Yet once adopted, it is surprising
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 05
how long a rule has sometimes been allowed to stand. Forty
years after its adoption in 1801, the following regulation con-
tinued to be read in public, once a month, and hundreds of old
Ackworth boys will well remember the ring of the last words
and the enjoyment with which the reader delivered their
musically balanced syllables : — " The boys are desired not to
leap any where within the bounds except on the ground below
the pump or in the shed-court and, there, to avoid the pebbles,
flags and channel stones." Of the same date also, is the
following rule, the first part of which retained its place as
long as the one just quoted: — "They are desired not to stop
or play between the dining-room door and shed-court ; much
less to peep through the dining-room door which shows bad
manners ; to look in with a view of knowing what victuals are
for the next meal betrays too much attention to what they eat."
Either from compassion for the feelings of the poor hungry
boys, who nightly drew, with instinctive interest, around the
portal of the room where their simple supper was preparing, or
from a dislike of the pungent jibes of the wags who maintained
however unreasonably, the unreasonableness of being held
responsible for the bad manners shewn by the dining room door,
or from some now unknown cause, the framers of this law
speedily rescinded its last two clauses. How long another law
promulgated in 1803, was permitted to operate we cannot
discover. We trust it was not long. It is as follows : — " It is
apprehended that it would much tend to prevent the boys from
transgressing the rules if they knew that other boys who are
privy to it would inform of them : therefore, for the sake of
good order in this Institution, it is requested that immediate
information be given to the Master on Duty or the Superintendent,
by every boy who knows of any other going out of bounds or
committing any other considerable offence, or of their intention
to do so : and it is agreed that any boy concealing things of
this kind be considered as an accomplice in the crime and
punished accordingly.'' It is almost incredible that good >
Io6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
men could have framed such an injunction. Happily,
its monstrous nature must soon have made it a dead
letter. The passion for resorting to fixed and inelastic arrange-
ments nearly made early shipwreck of one of the Fine Arts of the
School. In 1796, a man was killed at Pontefract, from his
horse having taken fright at a paper kite. Forthwith the
Masters prohibited kites. But, as if suspicious that they were
a little unreasonably listening to a clamour incited among the
villagers by the accident, they, in their own minute book,
fortified their action in the matter by alleging various other
objections to the noxious toy, among which were, that " kites
occasion considerable expense of money to the children which
may be employed more usefully," that the " diversion endangers
the children's taking cold by standing and prevents their taking
exercise which is necessary for their health" and (happy
thought !) that "it is a temptation to children to go out of bounds."
In 1 86 1 , up to which time the Committee had nominally met in
full every month, it was resolved that the heavier business should
be conducted every third month, and that, in the intermediate
months, such members as lived beyond a distance of thirty
miles should be excused attendance. This arrangem.ent was the
origin of the division of the Committee into monthly and
quarterly sections. The Country Committee suffered con-
siderable uneasiness about this time, as it had done on some
previous occasions, from the practice of the London Friends,
to whom the care of investing the funds of the Institution was
naturally much entrusted, purchasing government stock, and
particularly some classes of it which had been directly raised
for purposes of war. In 1802, it made a very strong protest
against the practice and enforced its objections by stating that
many Friends in the North, so strongly condemned such
investments, that it anticipated the withdrawal of their sub-
scriptions, if other channels were not adopted. It recommended,
especially, to the attention of London Friends the shares of
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I07
the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Another source of concern
to the home Committee arose out of the desire of the London
Committee that the land-tax on the estate should be redeemed.
The business-like view taken of this matter by the Friends
in the capital was very repugnant to the sensitive conscience of
their country brothers. They saw in direct action, in reference
to this tax, an unlawful compromise and, in 1803, respectfully
but firmly urged their opinion by minuting for the inspection
of the Meeting in London their " wish to lay before it the
impropriety of voluntarily contributing (in the public situation
in which the Committee was placed by the Society) to a
measure which was expressly adopted for the purposes of war."
On the retirement of Mary Martin from the post of principal
misti'ess or governess, Isabella Harris was invited by the
Committee in Fourth Month 1803 to take her place, and on the
2nd of Twelfth Month she entered upon ber important duties,
which she was ably, and with great satisfaction to all concerned,
to perform for nearly a quarter of a century.
In the Spring of that year a malignant type of scarlet-fever
broke out in the School. The Superintendent at once called a
Special Committee, which, foreseeing, from the character of the
disorder, a very serious visitation, made arrangements with
Robert Whitaker and his wife for the use of their house, at the
bottom of the garden, as a hospital. They were to enter the
School or live at the Inn, at the expense of the School, as they
thought best. Intelligence of the severe character of the fever
spread alarm amongst parents everywhere, some of whom at once
called home their children. Indeed the action taken by the
friends of the children on this occasion was of the nature of
panic, many continuing to remove their children long after the
disease had got the [complete mastery of the place, to the great
endangerment of their families at home. No fewer than forty-
four were taken away in this manner by their affrighted parents,
Io8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the frequent removals adding greatly to the alarm and unsettle-
ment of those left behind, who had not been assailed by' the
disorder. During the Spring and Midsummer months the fever
YittxsXly raged. Two hundred had the disease, 171 having it
severely and 30 more mildly ; and seven children died. Only
about 50 escaped the sickness, for by the time the disorder had
spent its force there were but 248 children left in the School.
No sooner had the fever retired than the Committee resolutely
set about to cleanse and purify the place. They invited the
parents of such children as lived at no great distance to take
them home for a couple of months, offering pecuniary compen-
sation for expense and loss of school-time, but it would not
appear that many felt comfortable to avail themselves of the
opportunity. A month after the invitation the number of children
had only diminished by twelve. As the School terms of some of
the children terminated, the number of scholars, during the three
months after the fever ceased, ran down to 229. The cleaning
down of the place, with so many occupants still within it, was a
great, and, to the children, a very amusing work. The bed
rooms were all vacated for the purpose of being thoroughly
aired, whitewashed, fumigated and painted, most of the children
lodging, during the process, in the girls' dining room and the
Committee Room. Suitable accommodation was procured in
the neighbourhood for such as could not be conveniently housed
in the School during the process. At the close of Ninth Month
notice was given that children might return to or enter the
School on the 24th of Tenth Month, but theygatheredveryslowly.
Panic had seized parents ; and two years and a half intervened
before the School was as full as before the appearance of the
fever. The visitation cost the School upwards of £$00 in
extraordinary expenses; besides which the Committee felt it
incumbent upon them to make handsome presents to officers of
all ranks, who had been heavily drawn upon for extra service.
It is right to note that Robert Whitaker on this, as on some
other occasions, refused the donation offered to him.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 09
The extent to which the Committee interfered in details of
management which would, in these days, be unquestionably left
to the heads of departments, must have been not a little irritating
to the spirit of a man like Dr. Binns. The cumulative force of
oft-repeated interference with his freedom of action led him at
last to challenge, not only the expediency of such policy, but the
right of the Country Committee to exercise it. He complained
of its tendency to sap his authority and to render it impossible
to preserve good order and declared his intention, in writing, of
appealing to the London Committee or to the ensuing General
Meeting of 1804, or to both, for their opinion whether such
" interference were constitutional," and to induce them to take
such steps as might " prevent future misunderstandings between
the Committee and the Superintendent." This appeal was not
made, for, instead of taking that course. Dr. Binns resolved,
before the next Committee met, to resign his post. This was
done in the Sixth Month 1 804, and he quitted the establishment
on the 2 5th of the following Tenth Month. His retirement placed
the Committee in a dilemma. Charles Parker kindly under-
took to spend some time at the School, but could not do so
continuously. The Committee availed itself of his offer of
occasional attendance ; and arranged with Robert Whitaker to
attend to the general concerns of the School until some friend
should offer himself for the post of Superintendent, advising
him to obtain from some of the older boys such assistance in
the Office as might enable him to keep his booking work in
order. The Committee made many efforts to induce him to
reside in the School, but ineffectually. For eight months he,
single handed, conducted his own special department and the
more general duties of a Superintendent, to the entire satisfaction
of the Committee. It had long been the conviction of many of
the friends of the School, and especially of many of the members
of the London Committee, that it was advisable to have at
the head of the establishment a salaried officer ; and Robert
Whitaker's efficient experimental administration pointed him out
no HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
as the right man for the post. The Committee, in Seventh Month
1805, therefore, requested Sparkes MoUne to propose him for the
office, for the consideration of the General Meeting just about
to hold its sittings. That body accepted the nomination, and
Robert Whitaker moved into the house on the 6th of Ninth
Month, Joseph Birkbeck undertaking to reside temporarily in
the School to assist him.
In the Sixth Month of 1806 a case of small pox occurred in
the School, which was at once removed into the village, and the
disorder happily spread no further ; but thirteen of the children
were inoculated with the vaccine virus, which must have com-
pleted the absolutely fortified state of the School against any
serious outbreak of the loathsome disease, for we are told, that
there remained in the School but one child who had not either
had the small pox or the cow pox. The parents of the excep-
tional boy were unwilling that he should be inoculated.
The School had now more than recovered its popularity with
parents. In the Spring of 1806 there were 190 boys, i.e., ten
more than the complement, and the Committee took measures
for preventing further admissions. In the Autumn however
there were 318 children in the house — 190 boys and 128 girls.
This excess of numbers began to create inconvenience in the
family, and the Country Committee had to urge upon the
London Committee the necessity for more close attention to
proper arrangements respecting admissions, which had become
irregular beyond the Country Friends' control, and the untimeli-
ness of which was proving oppressive to individuals who suffered
delay from it.
The dress worn by the children at this time, the fashion of
which had probably altered little, if at all, since the foundation
of the School, a quarter of a century before, had become dis-
tasteful to parents. Many of them cast the garments aside
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL III
immediately their children reached home, but some could not
afford to do so, and their boys sometimes suffered no little
persecution on account of their enforced peculiarity. The late
Thomas Firth, of Huddersfield, relates how, soon after this
period, when he went out in his Ackworth garb, as an apprentice,
the boys would run after him in the streets and throw dirt at
him. The practice of discarding these garments was a source
of distress to the good Friends of the Country Committee, some
of whom were extremely rigid in their views about dress, and,
their opinions obtaining attention in the Yearly Meeting of
1806, that body was induced to make a minute on the subject,
which the Country Committee printed and forwarded, with some
observations of its own, to all the agents of the School and to
the parents of the children. l"he document was as follows : —
" This Meeting is sorrowfully affected with information that divers
persons under our name, who have the care of youth, and who have had
their youth educated at Ackworth School, have been so indiscreet as to cast
aside the simple garb in which the children return from it, thereby laying
waste, as it were with a stroke, the care of the Society, so far as it relates to
plainness of apparel, and opening a ready way for other deviations from a
self-denying conduct.
" And the Committee, having been similarly impressed with this subject,
earnestly press it upon parents and guardians not to weaken the impressions
which may have been made on the minds of their children whilst at this
School, by introducing them into the fashions of the world, and thus vio-
lating the principles which Truth has led our Society into in this respect.''
If the Committee were not very charitable in its views upon
dress, it fully retained the liberality which had from the first
characterised its pecuniary dealings with its staff, as will be
seen from its operations when revising the salaries of its female
officers of the higher rank, in 1807. Although, to our modern
ideas, the scale of payment for arduous services may appear
low, it is but needful to compare it with the common standard
of the time to discover that a very generous mind reigned in the
Committee in this particular. On this occasion the salary of the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
housekeeper (with a present of 20 guineas) was raised from £,2'^
to ^31 i°>
That of the Nurse was raised from
Boys' Matron
Principal Mistress
Sewing, Mistress
Reading ditto
Writing ditto
Knitting ditto
Mantua Maker
£\2 12 to £\d, 14
10 O to 12 12
25 o to 31 10
15 15 to 18 18
15 15 to 18 18
15 15 to 18 18
12 12 to 14 14
10 10 to 12 12
CHAPTER VI.
MONITORS — JOSEPH LANCASTER — IMPROVED STATE OF THE
SCHOOL UNDER ROBERT WHITA:kER — REMINISCENCES OF
thomas firth of huddersfield insufficient provision
against inclement weather examinations — robert
whitaker's marriage — washing mill — planting
arrangements for leisure pursuits religious instruc-
tion — -officers drawn for the militia imprisoned in
wakefield jail.
To those old Ackworth Scholars who have held the honour-
able office of Monitor it may be interesting to know that the
Meetings which the masters held with them, once a week,
originated in 1807. Great fluctuations appear to have taken
place from time to time in the amount of esteem in which
this office was held by the boys at large, no less than in the
fidelity with which its duties were performed by its bearers.
That there were periods when the monitors exercised a very
valuable influence over the boys and were a very considerable
assistance to the masters in the general discipline, is unquestion-
able. When, however, the tone of the class ran down a little, as
was natural that it frequently should do — for it must be ever
remembered how young the members of it were — the very fact
of the consciousness of trust unfaithfully occupied had in itself
a demoralising effect, which was sometimes not a little disastrous
to the individual. Much remissness in attention to their duties
and great want of judgment in the exercise of their powers of
control having for some time existed amongst the monitors, and
the various efforts which the masters had repeatedly made to
114 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
encourage and stimulate them to greater diligence having pro-
duced but little improvement in the staff, the masters concluded
to hold an extra meeting every week, which the monitors should
attend, at which business more especially bearing upon or affected
by their office should be transacted. It was hoped, by this
means, to infuse life and vigour into a force which the masters
considered to be calculated to be of great utility, if its duties
were properly discharged, and which they thought was sufficiently
surrounded by privileges and dignities to make membership in
it very desirable to boys worthy of it.
On the girls' side of the house, this year was marked by the
introduction of the study of Geography. If we could for a
moment divest our minds of the intimate association this
subject has ever possessed with our modern education, we
might possibly be able to appreciate the significance to the
girls of 1807 of the advent of this delightful study in their
daily routine. No wonder that the Women's Examining Com-
mittee should report that it had proved a very "agreeable
addition to the other branches of learning.'' With, or at the
same time as, the introduction of Geography, another article
of very familiar use in our day was, for the first time, timidly
brought into vogue amongst the girls. The Women's Com-
mittee resolved to make trial of Cotton, but only to a very
limited extent. It was to be tried in " repairing girls' under-
hnen;" and their pockets, which had hitherto been made
of " Calimanco," were in future to be made of " Cotton-fustain."
This year also, and probably on both sides of the house, the first
influence of the Lancasterian system of teaching made its
appearance. Joseph Lancaster, an eccentric and somewhat
intractable genius — " the Luther of the Schools," as he has
been styled — was then attracting much attention by his advocacy
of a radical change in the methods of conducting middle-class
schools, and' many Friends gathered around him and gave him
encouragement and material aid in the prosecution of his great
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I15
object. Amongst these patrons was David Barclay, who was
very enthusiastic in regard to the new method, ' and who,
by letter, recommended it to the Committee at Ackworth.
No part of the system appears to have been adopted at this
time, however, except the teaching of spelling by dictation.
It is very interesting to observe, from the half-yearly Reports
of the Examining Committees, that within two or three years
of the accession of Robert Whitaker to the superinteridency, a
marked satisfaction with things in general makes its appearance.
Tracing the sentiment down the course of years, there is a
steady but constant increase in the Committee's appreciation
of, and confidence in their principal officer and in the admirable
spirit he infused -into his subordinates of every department.
His devotion to the duties of his post early attracted their
admiration. Within a very few years, we find the Committee
urging him to take more recreation, and, in 1808, after his
return from an excursion in the South of England, it minutes
regretfully that it is unable to induce him to allow it to defray
his expenses. To the end of his career, this form of self-
denying sacrifice never left him. One thing which ever gave
great pleasure to the Committees, was the harmony which his
influence produced in all sections of the officers and family.
This chord runs through the general refrain of numberless
Reports, commencing with that of Tenth Month, 1808, in which
"general harmony" and "good order and regularity'' are
referred to as everywhere prevalent. The principal Masters
at this time were Joseph Donbavand — the Caligraphist — who
had been in the School from its commencement, William
Singleton, the Reading Master, Joseph Sams and John Don-
bavand, Grammar Masters, and Samuel Evens, Assistant
Master. The late Thomas Firth, of Huddersfield, who was
a scholar in 1809 and 1810, in some notes of his recollections
written only two or three weeks before his death in the early
part of this year (1879), describes Joseph Donbavand as a very
il6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
genial man, "kind almost to a fault," severe only when bad
writing was concerned, quick to forget a quarrel, fond of a joke,
and of— snuff! So far as the accounts refer to the same
characteristics, this Report of Thos. Firth is in harmony with
that penned by Wm. Howitt, who describes " Master Joseph "
about the same period as a " tall, slender man, with a long,
thin countenance, and dark hair, combed backward," and says,
in reference to him, "What scholar does not remember his
snuff-box, opened with its three systematic raps ; and the
peculiar jerk of his elbow when he felt himself bound to refuse
some petition? He was a most perfect master of penmanship ;
and, in our opinion, not less so of the ars natandi, which he
often told us he had been taught by a frog, having one end of
a string tied to its leg, the other end in his mouth, and thus
pursuing it and imitating its movements. It was his favourite
humour to do a kind act with an air of , severity. "Get away
with thee," he exclaimed, with an emphatic elbow jerk, to a
very little boy sent ' to him to be caned ! " why, thou art
a coward — thou art afraid to go into the bath ! Get away with
thee !" Wm. Singleton, Thomas Firth describes as an excellent
teacher of reading, who rejoiced in raising the enthusiasm of his
pupils in the art, by setting them to repeat, simultaneously and
with energy, passages like, "I'm monarch of all I survey,"
which was done to such purpose in the school-room, at the
bottom of the colonnade, "as," says Thomas Firth, "to make
the girls' wing ring again." But as a figure on the premises-,
Joseph Sams was evidently the favourite with T. F. He pictures
him as a " fine old English gentleman," who " wore a three-
cornered looped hat — called a three-decker— \>\!ic!^t's, to his knee
-breeches, and also to his shoes," all of which gave dignity to his
.appearance. He however left Ackworth, soon after T. Firth
went, and. had a School at Darlington for a time, but he finally
abandoned the. profession of teacher for that of vendor of
■Antiquities, Books, 'M.S.S., and Curiosities, for which purpose
he had a shop in Darlington, and another in Great Queen Street,
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I17
London. He travelled in Egypt and Palestine in search of
MSS., and was generally regarded as a remarkable and eccentric
man. Of Thomas Bradshaw, one of the .Masters not mentioned
by Thomas Firth, Wm. Howitt gives a very interesting picture. .
How far he intends it to be a faithful delineation we cannot say. .
He was the senior reading-master, — " a little, stiff man, with a-
round, well-fed face, and a very dry and sibilant voice. His hat
was always three-cocked, his clothes always dark brown, his gaiters .
black. We looked upon him with awe, for he had been a naval
captain, and had heard the roar of battle, as one of his legs testified,
having had the calf blown away by a cannon shot. Worthy old-
man ! — in our anger we called him Toimiiy Codger, and forgot
the Pomfret cakes he always carried in his pocket, to bestow if
he heard a cough — and heaven knows he heard many a one —
as he went his evening round through the bed-chambers, when
on duty. At the bottom -of our soul, however, we loved him ;
and he was more worthy of our love than we knew, for-he had-
abandoned bright prospects in his profession, and encountered,
knowingly and undauntedly, scorn and poverty from his con-
viction of the anti-christianity of war. He had suffered much,
and had we been aware of .this, we might have borne with him
more' patiently when he grew old and cold, and kept a great
fire in the school-room all summer ; -and sate close to it and,
still feeling himself chill, could not imagine but that we must
be so too, and, therefore, broiled us, and kept close door and
window, and made us button up our waistcoats to the throat,
till we were ready to melt away. Many a time did we wish
him a thousand miles off, yet when he was compelled to
succumb to age and its infirmities and to vacate his office,
he wept, and we wept too." Of John Donbavand, Thomas
Firth does not appear to have much remembrance, probably
having been little under his care, and only remarks of him that
he was "said to be severe and fond of .using the cane."'
Apropos of the mention of this instrument of correction, it is
w6ll to state that- Thomas Firth says, that he never saw it used
Il8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
in the school-room, and only once in the Office, so that it was
evidently not in public application very frequently. The
offence for which T. F. witnessed its use was a refusal to eat
certain food. At this time, some of the dishes brought to
table do not appear to have been of an attractive character.
High prices ruled for a long period, and the Committee were
compelled to insist on rigid economy. The lob-scouse of Fourth
and Seventh Days had then, as forty years afterwards, an
unpopular character, and the thick batter pudding, served in
great iron dishes, with treacle sauce, which constituted the
Fifth Day dinner, and which, as a second course, long after-
wards exercised the masticatory muscles of Ackworth Scholars,
does not appear, at any time, to have been a favourite dish, as
may be supposed from its sobriquet of datty or darty vengeance.
There was, of course, always beer at table, served in little tin
vessels. This was the "Age of Tin." Tin vegetable-dishes,
tin pie-dishes, tin pudding-dishes, tin spoons (often with very
little tin upon them, however,) and tin drinking vessels. The
treilchers were of wood — some of a soft spongy nature, very
objectionable — and the carving-dishes of pewter. The bread
was always excellent and formed literally the staff of life ;
and most generations of boys have spoken well of the hot
milk of the morning meal. The plain boiled "plum-pudding"
appears to have been long popular, and, in distant times,
constituted at least one dinner of the week. When the season
was fruitful and the yield of apples large in the "great garden,"
the First Day mid-day meal was a festive occasion; but apple-
pie often did not appear for many weeks together, and rhubard
had not yet been recognised as a refreshing substitute in the
Spring months.
Thomas Firth mentions that, in his time, there was a class of
boys who went by the name of " The Serious Boys." They held
a voluntary Bible Class, or something of that kind, at which
there was always present a master or apprentice who, so far as
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL II9
can now be gathered, took no part in the direction of the
proceedings. During this period, there were some fine boys
of good judgment and fearless adherence to the right. One of
these, Wm. Parker, father of Wm. Coor Parker, of Darlington,
went by the name of Judge Parker, and was eminent as a
referee whose decision was accepted, without hesitation, by the
most quarrelsome boys in the School. That there were boys of
a troublesome character, we may be sure, and one piece of blind
mischief might have been perpetrated had not the scheme been
discovered in time. The old Meeting House had a mysterious
attraction, in dark evenings, for the more restless idlers of the
School, at various periods ; but, on this occasion, the thought
came into one foolish head that it would be a bright idea to set
it on fire, and there seems to have been sufficient incipient
incendiarism in his companions to enable them to entertain the
idea agreeably. But mischievous projects are often, as on that
occasion, baffled by deficiency of reticence amongst accomplices.
It is very remarkable how few expulsions have taken place.
In 1810, however, a boy who had been "for several years
extremely disorderly" was brought up before the Committee,
and by that body expelled.
The boys' little gardens were probably always a pleasure to a
certain class, but they appear to have been particularly valued
at this period, probably from the outlets for ingenious invention
or tasteful arrangement being fewer than in more recent times.
We hear now of a wonderful model of a farm in one corner of
the gardens, which appears to have existed down to beyond
1830. It comprised a model of the residence and the out-
buildings appropriate to a very complete establishment ; and
the ground around was fenced off into miniature fields, where
ingenious arrangements were made for representing the various
crops usually grown on a farm. But the boys of that time had
other outlets for agricultural skill than playing at farming.
I20 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Much Stiff practical work of the kind fell to some of them.
Besides hay-making and weeding arable, which fell to the
general lot, boys might still be seen driving the "big bull" with
a great roller behind him, or harrowing behind a yoke of oxen.
These youths should, according to the customs of the day, have
paid their '■'■footing" on undertaking the mysteries of the craft,
for without, that ceremony even a Committee man could not
enter on his duties, and Thomas Firth records that, sometime
about this epoch, the " youthful Joseph .Clark," of Doncaster,
coming upon the Committee, was "the last to pay his footing as
a colt" — the fine being five shillings for a bowl of punch, which
the whole Committee partook of in the evening.
Up to 1809 no attempt to warm the school-rooms was made,
beyond keeping up a single fire in each, which was fenced off
by a strong iron-guard, so that no one might approach it within
three or four feet, and the opportunity of doing that was a
privilege rarely to be enjoyed by any but the "School-sweepers."
As most of these rooms must have been about fifty feet in
length, and nearly twenty in width, and all of them had stone
floors, it is easy to imagine that the comfort dispensed by a
single fire cannot have been other than very limited. The
suffering experienced by some boys from cold was excessive.
Some of them were martyrs to chilblains ; and it would be
little exaggeration to say that the Winter months were, to a few,
one long agony. The proverbially obdurate heart of school-
boys often melted into tender compassion at the sight of some
of these crippled objects as they dragged themselves, at the
summons of the bell, with slow and torturing steps towards
school or dining-room. At the suggestion of Charles Parker,
the Committee adopted steam-pipes for warming the school-
rooms. These were placed very injudiciously, and, many years
afterwards, medical verdict condemned .them as bad in principle
throughout, but they brought relief to the frost-bitten boys, and
few of them would feel very nice about scientific propriety so
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 121
long as their fingers were warm. The rooms were heated in
this way, for the first time, in the Autumn of i8ro. Ten years
elapsed, however, before any method of warming the Meeting
House was adopted. Comfort in church and chapel was often
much neglected in those days, yet the frequent movement and
variety involved in their services had some influence in ab-
stracting the mind from cold toes ; but in the three long,
solemn, and often silent, services of the week, in the Ackworth
Meeting House, the thinly clad and shivering little boys and
girls had a good deal of leisure for reflecting on their misery.
In or about 1820, hot-air flues were introduced under the floors
and proved a great source of congratulation amongst those who
had known the room without them, although never very satis-
factory to others. It is somewhat remarkable that, with so
much exposure to severe cold and so small a supply of flesh
meat as was provided, there should have been so little general
sickness in the. School. In 18 10 there were fifty-eight cases of
measles, one of which terminated fatally, but, with the exception
of an isolated instance or two of small-pox, no infectious
disorder had entered the School for seven years before. This
is the more striking because, although the Visiting Committees
often dwelt with satisfaction upon the " cleanliness " prevalent,
there appears to have been but little of what house-wives call
"thorough-cleaning," for in 18 11 we find the Committee making
arrangements for a general whitewashing of the premises, which
their minutes expressly state had not taken place since the year
1803. The temporary inconvenience of such a process may
have been allowed to operate against its needless frequency,
and the extreme fulness of the School for some time past must
have made it unusually awkward in a house where there were
no holidays. The temptation to fill the place to over-flowing
was great at this time, for not only were there occasionally on
the list for admission nearly half as many children as there were
within the walls, but the arrangements of the Agents were so
irregularly enforced as to operate unjustly towards applicants
122 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
of prior claims, who appear to have been sometimes accepted
by the Committee, almost out of necessity, when the com-
plement was already exceeded.
The Reports of the Examining Committees of those early
times were usually very brief, but clear and pointed. The
work they represented was not trifling, though it may have been
superficial as regards the studies of the children. As the list
of these was small, however, and the same Friends were often
the Examiners, the verdict may have been nearer the complete
truth than the process by which they arrived at it would, at first
thought, appear to indicate. This was by examining each boy
and girl separately, and of course the investigation must have
been very brief Five or six gentlemen and as many ladies
were usually engaged upon the work. As a specimen of such
Reports we quote that of Fourth Month, i8ir, taken at
random, yet interesting as indicating a view of things after
Robert Whitaker had had nearly six years' experience of his
post and may have been supposed to have placed his impress
upon the style of the School.
"The children in the Boys' and Girls' Schools have been examined, and
the management of the house department and its appendages has been
investigated. After conferring together, the joint Committee report that
they have vi'ith satisfaction to remark that the House department continues
to be conducted with good order, economy, and cleanliness. A very
commendable attention seems continued by the Superintendent, Governess,
Masters, and Mistresses to the improvement of the children in the several
branches of their learning, and a satisfactory progress is mostly observable.
Where deficiencies were apparent the individuals were admonished. And,
from the orderly demeanour of the children in general, as well as from the
accounts received from their Instructors respecting their behaviour, there is
good reason to believe that the moral and religious education of the youth
in this School continues progressively to improve."
At the Committee which sat at this time, an appeal was
made to the friends of the children for more liberal subscrip-
tions in support of the School. The annual cost of each child
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 23
was Stated to be about ^20 ; and the Committee expressed its
opinion that many who had children at Ackworth, who could
not probably with convenience send them to more costly
schools, were in such circumstances as should enable them, by
subscription, to make up the full cost of their children in this.
Robert Whitaker, having lost his wife soon after entering on the
duties of Superintendent, became united in marriage, in the
Spring of 18 12, with Hannah Dumbleton, who had long and
with rare ability superintended the domestic departments of the
School. For this lady the Committee had long felt great
esteem, as the encomiastic references to her department, em-
bodied in its various reports, show beyond dispute, and, on her
marriage, it was not slack to show its desire to make her new
position comfortable. Besides a marriage present of a hundred
guineas to Robert Whitaker and herself, it gave her an especial
servant to be entirely attached to her interests and convenience.
It must have been a cause of rejoicing to all the friends of the
Institution to see two such faithful and devoted officers joined
in a still more intimate bond of common interests.
The weekly washing for upwards of 300 persons was a great
business in those times, and the old mill had, in spite of
frequent adaptations, under which it had become much
impaired, for some time proved very incompetent to perform
its part in the work and, in 18 12, the experiment was made of
trying the action of the machinery of a fulling mill, as a
mode of cleansing linen. A week's washing was sent to a mill
at Rawdon and the success of the operation was such as to
induce the Committee to adopt the principle and erect a mill
of a similar construction.
To the thoughtfulness of this generation belongs not a little
of the present ornamentation of the Estate. We have seen
how, in the first years of the occupation of it by Friends,
planting trees was resorted to, and, hke good stewards, the
124 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Committee kept up the practice so well begun. In J804 a
thousand oaks, eight hundred ashes, a hundred elms and a
hundred larches were planted on the corners of fields and
other suitable places, and in 18 11 the "great garden'' was
beautified by ■ extensive planting of trees of various kinds, a
double row being placed down the east side, probably with a
view to shelter. This practice of planting probably suggested
the placing of two young trees at the top of the garden, in
commemoration of the marriage of Robert and Hannah
Whitaker on the 19th of Third Month, 181 2, which were long
remembered in connection with the event. Amongst the
papers of the late Eliza Bowman — an aged Friend of Bradfield,
Essex — a short benediction was found, referring to the planting of
these trees, which was probably familiar to a generation now
fast passing away, as embracing words pronounced on the
occasion :
" May the earth nourish their roots ;
May the'dews cherish their branches ;
And may the sun ripen their fruits.
May the union this day commemorated be blessed with the fatness of
the earth, the dew of Heaven and the refreshing beams of the
sun of Righteousness."
It is interesting to find the masters, in the darkening days of
the autumn of 1 8 1 2, making arrangements for the in-door accom-
modation of boys who were inclined for sedentary pursuits.
Those who were disposed for " drawing, reading, writing &c."
were allowed to sit in the Grammar School on Fourth and
Seventh Day afternoons. The old oil lamp was, doubtless,' a
bright luminary to the industrious youth of the day, and it is per-
haps to be regretted that no Literary Association or Society of Arts
existed to hand down the memory of the work executed under its
rays. But every thing has its beginning, and this movement was
a step in the direction of good things in the future. But there, are
always boys in a large school whose tastes lie, not in books or
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 25
drawing or severer mental pursuits, but in mechanical con-
trivance and constructural skill ; and it is to the praise of the
good men of the time that this class was not forgotten, and that
the reading School was, on these occasions, placed at its
service. It is probable that the good sense of the Masters
and their interest in their charge prompted this arrangement ;
but a curious document on " The right employment of time"
had recently been presented to the attention of the boys and
may possible have incited in them a disposition towards in-door
employments. This document was sent to the Masters'
Meeting by Wm. Smith, of Doncaster. It appears to have
made a favourable impression upon the teachers and they
caused six copies of it to be made for the use of the boys. As
it remained for many years prominently before Ackworth
Scholars, it may be pleasant to some to see it here : —
" Time is precious but its value is unknown to us. We shall attain this
knowledge when we can no longer profit by it. Our friends require it of
us as if it were nothing ; and we give it to them in the same manner.
"It is often a burden to us; we know not what to do with it and are
embarrassed about it.
" The day will come when a quarter of an hour will appear of more
.value and more desirable than all the riches of the universe. God, who
is liberal and generous in all His other gifts, teaches us, by the wise economy
of His providence, how circumspect we ought to be in the right manage-
ment of our time, for He never gives us two moments together ; He gives us
only the second as He takes away the first and keeps the third in his hands,
leaving us in an absolute uncertainty whether it shall be ours or not.
"Time is given us that we may take care of eternity and eternity will
not be too long to regret the loss of our time if we have misspent it."
A magniloquent sententiousness had probably more- power
over the youthful mind of 1812 than it would have upon that,
of the present day. It was in accordance with the style of the
literary models which it was taught to regard as of a high
class ; and it is, perhaps, allowable to suppose that the above
lines may have bred in the Ackworth boys some sense of their
126 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
own personal responsibility in reference to the employment of
their leisure, for which the masters wisely provided the facilities
above mentioned. Whethermoved to it by this activity of the boys
or not, the Committee resolved soon after this movement to make
considerable additions both to the boys' and masters' libraries.
Besides advancing /^^o for the purpose from the funds of the
Institution, its members raised a private subscription for it.
Yet this liberality was in the terrible year of scarcity, when
wheat was a hundred and twenty-six shillings the quarter and
when the Committee must have been distracted to know how to
meet the current expenses, for, that year (1812), the cost of
provisions alone amounted to ^4018.
At, or about the same time, the Committee commenced
the practice of giving to every child, on leaving school, a Bible
and a copy of Henry Tuke's " Principles of Religion." The
members of both Committees were beginning to turn especial
attention to the religious instruction of the chidren, and, in the
second month of 1813, their views took definite form. The
Country Committee, that month, held an adjourned meeting
for the consideration of the subject but did not commit itself
to a definite course on that occasion, although it minuted its
" belief that some advantages might accrue by increased
attention to religious instruction," and referred it to the
further consideration of the following Quarterly Committee,
requesting that, in the meantime, the Friends constituting the
sub-committee for visiting the schools would keep their minds
directed to the subject. The Friends on that examining
Committee, bringing in an excellent report of the boys, ap-
pended to it some observations on religious instruction, to
which they expressed their belief that it was advisable to
devote more time. By way of helping the discussion of the
question they offered the following plan for consideration ;
1st. That such children as may be thought suitable devote two or three
hours in each week to committing to memory and repeating " The brief
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 27
view of the principles of the Christian religion" by John Bevans, the
" Selection of Scripture Passages" by Henry Take or some other suitable
compendium of Christian knowledge.
2nd. That the children who are expected to leave the school in less than
six months be furnished by the Superintendent or principal Mistress with
suitable books illustrative of the principles of the Christian religion, and
in particular of the Christian religion as professed by the Society of Friends.
That these children devote at least half-an-hour each day to the study of
the books with which they are furnished and that they be examined by the
Superintendent or principal Mistress once in the week as to their com-
prehension and recollection of what they have read."
The principle of these suggestions was adopted by the
Committee, but it was thought that some more suitable com-
pendium of religious instruction might be prepared than those
named in the report, and Henry Tuke and Josiah Forster were
requested to essay such a work. The result of their joint
labours was produced in 1813, and, after being carefully
revised by the Committee, was adopted by it, subject to the
sanction of the London Committee. The little work never
came into use, however, the " Morning Meeting* having
thrown some obstacle in the way of its introduction. For the
encouragement of the movement, six Friends — Samuel Tuke,
Josiah Forster, Edward Pease, George Sanders, John Hustler
and Joseph Birkbeck — had been requested to make a selection
* A Committee of the meeting of Ministers and Elders, held in
London, and at that time exercising, amongst its various functions, the duty
of maintaining a watchful oversight of the doctrinal publications of members
of the Society, it being recognised by Friends at large that no work could
be safely regarded as truly representing the doctrines of the Society which
had not passed the censorship of the " Morning Meeting.'' The Committee
had its origin in the times of G. Fox, when its chief duty consisted in
arranging for the exercise of the Ministi-y, for which purpose it met early on
First Day morning and again on Second Day morning. Hence its name
of a morning meeting.
128
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
of works suitable to the object in view, and
1 813, they proposed the following list : —
Bevan's " Brief View "
Chalkley's Journal
Gough's History
Gregory's Evidence of the Christian Religion. . .
Hoyland's Epitome of the Hist, of the World
Murray on Stage Entertainments
Paley's Natural Theology
Olney Hymns
Penn's " Advice to his Cliildren"
„ " No Cross, no Crown"
„ " Rise and Progress''
,, " Travels in Holland, &c."
" Piety Promoted," loth part
Scott's Journal
" Select Advices"
Tukes' " Principles"
„ "Duties"
,, " Life of Geo. Fox"
Turford's Grounds of a Holy Life"
Watt's " Short View of Scripture History" ...
Woolraan's Journal
in the Eighth Month,
4 Copies.
4 „
Sufficient on hand.
I Copy.
Supplied.
6 Copies.
3 ..
4 ..
12 ,,
Sufficient on hand.
Ditto.
6 Copies.
12 „
Sufficient on hand.
Ditto'.
Ditto.
12 Copies.
12 ,,
12 „
I Copy.
Sufficient on hand
Such of these books as were not already on hand were
obtained and, a year after the suggestion was adopted of
Catechising (" Answering" the children termed it) those who
were shortly to leave School, Robert Whitaker reported
that the system was in full operation, and he thought "the
mode of instruction likely to be useful to the children." In
furtherance of the general work of religious teaching, the
Committee, about a year after the commencement of the new
movement, obtained a hundred copies of Lindley Murray's
" Compendium of Religious Instruction'' and the same
number of William Alexander's " Brief Historical Catechism."
We hear of the plan of " Catechising the leaving children,"
now inaugurated, as in existence more than twenty years after
this time. In 1813, also, the practice of reading a chapter
from the Bible after breakfast every morning was adopted.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
129
In spite of the unprecedented price of provisions in 1812, the
income of the year exceeded the expenditure by ^2^2. This
was principally due to the fact that the amount of donations,
applicable to current outlay, was very large (^983), and the
profit on the farm very good. The School was then managing
164 acres; and, after deducting for rent ^328 — i.e. £2 per
acre— and ;^ii9 17s. 4d. for interest on capital employed, there
remained a clear profit of ;^433. This was in bright contrast
with the result of the previous year, when there was a loss of
nearly ^120.
In 1814, John Donbavand — one of the Masters — was, for the
second time, "drawn" for the local Militia. In 1810, when in
his twenty-first year, he had suffered a month's imprisonment
in the Wakefield House of Correction for refusing to serve.
On that occasion he only just escaped being thrown amongst
the criminals and being put to hard labour. There were in
confinement with him five others professing with Friends,
though three of them were not members. The one who was
first incarcerated was actually placed in the criminal ward, and
for a while wore the garb of the place, but, remonstrance being
made to Justice Heywood, who appears to have been well
acquainted with Friends and their principles, he was " relieved,
and the rest after him, from the needless infliction of penal
severities, and they had only to suffer a confinement, which,
mitigated thus, was not without its hardships."
On the second occasion no fewer than three Friends belong-
ing to the School were ballotted, John Donbavand's associates
being an apprentice and a servant man, — all of whom were
imprisoned for twenty-four days at Wakefield. Luke Howard,
to whose writings we owe most of these facts, relates that John
Donbavand was at this time "in weak health and lame from an
abscess, so that he could not walk three miles to the appearance,
but was obliged to ride ; yet the surgeon in attendance passed
130 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
him as fit and capable to serve. One of the others from 'the
School, having on a pretty good suit with a hat somewhat high
in the crown, was told that he was no Quaker by his appearance
and that the clothes he had on were worth the fine ! " Luke
Howard adds of John Donbavand that he was "an exemplary
character, who had at times spoken and prayed in Meeting,
exercising a religious care over the children,'' and that he
" endured his second imprisonment with Christian patience ;
thankful to the Almighty for his grace and goodness, at seasons
extended to his spirit, and to his friends for their frequent
attentions to him."
Whilst the staff was weakened by the absence of the two
teachers in Wakefield prison, and the work of the School was,
in consequence, probably proceeding with less than its usual
precision and regularity, two dissatisfied and disorderly boys
absconded. They were, however brought back in the evening,
and one of them, who appears to have been an exceedingly
troublesome and irreclaimable boy, was expelled three months
afterwards.
CHAPTER VII.
COMPLAINTS MADE AGAINST THE BOYS' STYLE OF READING
SUPERIORITY OF THAT OF THE GIRLS^ — ISABELLA HARRIS,
JUNR. — VALUABLE SERVICES RENDERED BY APPRENTICES
RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY — PROS-
PEROUS TIMES DISCIPLINE "record OF OFFENCES" —
" LIGHT AND AIRY ROOMS " — CASES OF DELINQUENCY— BAD
IMPRESSIONS GET ABROAD.
The generally complimentary character of the Reports of the
various Examining Committees began, in 1814, to be strongly
tinged with dissatisfaction on one point — the reading of the
boys. A weakness in this department was an offence the
Friends on the Committee were not at all likely to condone,
and they requested Robert Whitaker to see "whether an
improvement in the manner of conducting the Reading School
might not be introduced." But the duties already piled upon
their honoured Superintendent would have required Herculean
powers to support. He had hitherto, since being placed at the
head of the establishment, transacted all the business of the
clerk, in addition to his own still more important duties, and
his health had been for some time sensibly suffering from the
unreasonable load. The Committee alarmed by these indications
of over-worked strength in their uncomplaining and selfsacrificing
officer, urged him, in the Summer of 18 15, to take a few weeks
relaxation, and desired him to take his wife with him, Joseph
Birkbeck kindly offering to live at the School during their
absence. This very needful recreation Robert Whitaker was
induced to take.
K 2
1^2 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Finding the reading still very unsatisfactory in the Autumn of
that year, and, no doubt, discovering the impossibility o/ Robert
Whitaker's giving the amount of personal attention they would
have liked to the weak point, whilst so charged with other
concerns, the members of the Committee, not a day too soon,
resolved to supply the Superintendent with an assistant, ex-
pressing their views in the following minute : —
" It appears to the Committee that the duties that devolve on Robert
Whitaker as Superintendent of the whole family, the Secretary and the
Religious Instructor of the elder boys, are too great a load of care and
employment for any one person, and they believe, especially as at present
the Schools are mostly conducted by apprentices, that the interests of the
institution would be still further promoted by Robert Whitaker having an
assistant in the office, which would leave him more at liberty to attend to
the manner of conducting the Schools, and for that general and paternal
care over the children which they think was originally contemplated in the
office of Superintendent, and for which the present officer is peculiarly
qualified."
In accordance with this minute, William Hattersley was soon
after engaged as Robert Whitaker's assistant. The reading,
however, continued to be unsatisfactory, for the root of the
deficiency probably lay in the master of that department, who
was finally discharged as incompetent to bring the art up to the
high standard of the ruling authorities. As the reading for the
following eighteen or twenty years appears to have usually given
great satisfaction, it may be to this defective period that an
anecdote, often related in the olden time, should be referred.
At one of the General Meetings a discussion took place, in one
of the Schools which was being examined, on the speciality of
the defects in the reading, when a learned, school-master from
the south of England, who was maliciously supposed to have
come down " to spy out the nakedness of the land," gave it as
his judgment that the fault lay in the " rising cadence;" an
observation which gaVe infinite diversion to the wags. There
is no question that the art of reading was cultivated during
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 133
Robert Whitaker's administration -with great assiduity and
success. It is well known that the reading of Friends, once
Ackworth scholars, who are now advancing towards the decline
of life, was accepted as amongst the purest in taste and the
most acceptable in style that was to be met with in the country.
Two years ago a Friend travelling on the Continent met a well-
known actor of one of the principal London theatres, who
ascribed the facility with which he mastered his profession to
the admirable training in reading (as the foundation of elocution)
which he received when a scholar at Ackworth. This gentle-
man's testimony to the character of Robert Whitakelr is also
note-worthy. He remarked that " he loved his memory as he
did that of his own father."
Whilst the temporary cloud rested on the fame of the reading
on the boys' side, that of the girls was attaining its highest
excellence under the guidance of its young reading-mistress,
Isabella Harris, jun. Whilst the girls' department generally was
being administered by this lady's mother in a manner which
ever gave supreme satisfaction to the Committee, the daughter
very kindly devoted herself to the work of tuition, becoming in
18 13 the recognised authority in reading, and supplying the
post of teacher in that department. As such, she attained a
position which has become historic in the annals of the School.
They who were privileged to listen to her reading have spoken
of its grace and force, of its masterly rendering of her author's
meaning, and of the delicacy of the readers' intonation and em-
phases, as excellencies never approached in their experience and
as affording an intellectual feast of the purest quality. The well-
known influence, also, which she exercised by her gentle and
graceful life over the girls, enhanced the wide-spread interest
created by her reading, and it became the ambition of all culti-
vated visitors to Ackworth to gain an opportunity of being
present when it was Isabella Harris's turn to read in public.
Experienced elocutionists — Lindley Murray amongst the number
134 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
— considered her reading of a very high order. She conducted
this department for several years, " winning golden opinions"
not only from the inmates of the house, to whom her daily life
was ever a pleasant picture, but from a wide circle of parents
who saw reflected in their children traits developed by her
influence which they valued above all price. She left the School
in 1818, when the Committee made her a handsome present,
in token of their high appreciation of her work, and testified
their sense of it by minuting their gratitude " for her valuable
exertions in endeavouring to instruct the children in the paths
of virtue and religion, and to promote the peace and harmony
of the family."
From a minute of the Committee quoted above we have seen
that the boys' classes were at this time, to a considerable extent,
taught by apprentices. Amongst the various gifts which charac-
terized the Superintendent was that of being eminently skilful
in drawing out the powers of his young ofiftcers, of imparting to
them his own enthusiasm for culture, and of infusing into them
a lofty sense of duty. Under his animating influence and
guidance sprang up a band of able teachers, who adorned his
period with intellectual lustre and activity of no ordinary kind,
with a noble allegiance to the duties of their trust which has
probably never been exceeded, and, in not a few instances, with
the practice of a gentle life which, amidst the rough elements
of the times, cultivated the " sweet reasonableness" of numerous
sympathetic natures, which, in many schools of the period, would '
have been little developed. In their Autumn Report the
Examining Committee of 18 16 called special attention to the
valuable services rendered to the institution by its apprentices,
paying a high tribute to their assiduity in the discharge of their
duties and to their careful study of the welfare of the children.
Henry King was then nearly out of his term, but Henry Brady
was only eighteen and a half, and Thomas Brown not then
eighteen years of age. The desire for self-improvement amongst
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I35
them led the Committee, a few months afterwards, to engage
the services of a Clergyman residing at Ferrybridge, to teach
the classics to them, a study which they embraced with avidity,
and which led to the foundation of a classical . library in the
School. It must not however be supposed that the dead
languages had been' hitherto entirely neglected. Wm. Howitt
mentions a teacher of his time, named Boxall, who was a great
enthusiast in everything pertaining to Homer, and who so far
infused his own admiration of that author into the, boys that they
all became either "Greeks" or "Trojans.'' Up to the time
above alluded to, however, little systematic study of these
languages was attempted probably. In introducing a teacher
of them, the Committee, had in view not only the desire to
encourage the apprentices in their zeal for study, but also to
prepare Henry Brady for being able to teach the future appren-
tices of the School, which duty he efficiently fulfilled. His
advocacy was also the means of introducing a Latin class
amongst the boys, of which he was the first teacher.
The course of "religious instruction," initiated by the
Committee four years before, received a marked impetus and
development in 1816 and succeeding years, from the active
interest taken in it by Joseph John Gurney. Firm in his
conviction that no selection from the scriptures, no compendium
of religious instruction, no catechetical summary of doctrine
and principle was comparable to the Bible in its completeness,
as a means of drawing children, as well as those of riper years,
under the living influence of Gospel truth, he suggested to
the Committee the desirability of superseding the use of such
manuals by that of the Bible itself This opinion was by no
means so universal then as now. To the good men of that day
the Scriptures were not a less sacred revelation, but it was,
perhaps, too much the practice to avoid much discussion of'
them, from a fear of handling their contents with injudicious
freedom, and so injuring or weakening their teachings under
136 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the direct influence of the Holy Spirit. Hence the practice
then in vogue at Ackworth of trusting much to furnishing the
young mind with stores of disjointed passages, intended to
fortify it on doctrinal points, — a practice which probably had
in view rather the preparation for future correctness of opinion
and belief than the supply of the immediate spiritual require-
ments of the children. Imperfect as the system was, and dry
and lifeless as it was calculated to be, still it rvas a system
and one hedged about with the best safeguards that good and
beneficent men could then devise. J. J. Gurney's broad and
liberal mind — feeling forth in advance of its age — desired to
see those of the children "properly cultivated on the subject
of religion." He considered that the teaching of divine truth
had been too exclusively regarded as appertaining to the
Christian ministry. He sought to see it acknowledged "as a
simple duty,'' performed "in the liberty of that Gospel which
commands us to bring up our children in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord." The method in vogue he believed
to "exercise the powers of memory whilst it left those of
reflection untouched." " It flattens," says he, " the study
of the Bible, from which it selects the most precious texts
and, presenting them in a dry form side by side, as mere proofs
of propositions, it takes away half their value, and renders the
Bible itself far less interesting, by forestalling its chief beauties.
Children should be taught to search in the original mines, to
find these jewels for themselves, and then they would know
how to value them. In short I long to have the children
taught the Scriptures." His suggestions were carried out with
zeal and cordiality by the Committee and Teachers. Bibles
were at once procured. Joseph John Gurney himself prescribed
the method of study for the first year. By his genial and affable
manner, he quickly won the hearty co-operation of the children.
He promised to examine them himself the following General
Meeting, and to distribute prizes to those of them who should
shew the greatest proficiency. The Children appear to have
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I37
entered upon the study with enthusiasm. Joseph John Gurney
says : — They " took their Bibles to bed with them, read them by
the early morning light, pored over them at leisure hours during
the day, and especially on First Days. The Teachers rendered
them their best assistance ; knowledge of the subject rapidly
increased, and, with it, good ; and when I visited them, at the
close of twelve months, the whole aspect of affairs was changed."
The movement thus happily inaugurated, and of which a very
full account, so far as it was influenced by Joseph John Gurney,
may be found in J. Bevan Braithwaite's Memoir of him, did not
proceed without challenge. There were not a few Friends who
regarded it as an experiment of doubtful tendency, and others
who saw in it a dangerous innovation, but they who had
practical acquaintance with its operation were not long in
discovering that its fruits were good; and, in time, its advantages
and benefits were generally recognised. Writing in 1825,
Robert Whitaker says — " All the doubts and scruples which
were at first raised to our examination plan, have gradually
subsided, and we now hear nothing, from any quarter, respecting
our endeavours, but approbation and encouragement."
For thirty years, Joseph John Gurney continued his interest
in the School unabated. For many years he examined the
children in the Scriptures at the General Meeting, and, by his
charming handling of the subject, infused into the young people
a spirit which placed them in a favourable attitude towards the
farther and more earnest pursuit of it. Nor did he trust to
these occasions alone for gaining an influence among them
which might give authority and force to his efforts to promote
the object so dear to his heart. He mingled freely and
pleasantly, as old scholars will recall for themselves, with both
boys and girls on their play-grounds, winning his way to
acceptable hearing in moral and religious subjects, by playful
and genial words which every listener felt, as if by a magic
138 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
sympathy, came from a large heart full of all kindliness. His
appearance on the " green " immediately becaime the focus to
which every hurrying foot sped, and upon which every smiling
face concentrated. IJis facility of passing, by rapid yet gentle
strides, from the playful badinage of his first words to questions
of high import was wonderful, and no one had discovered that
he was "preaching" when he was in fact delivering a powerful
sermon on the grave responsibilities of life, or the bright reflec-
tions its duties might be made to produce if accomphshed in
the light of a Saviour's love. No one who ever heard him
discourse, on these occasions, on the evidences of design
manifest in the various organs of the human frame, will forget
how happily and strikingly he brought out the salient points of
his subject, and not a few probably date a life-long interest
in such studies from his few appropriate observations and
timely reflections.
In the Spring of 181 7 a deputation from both Committees
visited the School, and spent three days in a general investiga-
tion. The recently introduced system of " religious instruction''
was very favourably reported upon, and the Superintendent and
Teachers were encouraged to take further steps in the same
direction, as occasion might suggest. The Committee concluded
their report by recording their opinion of the general manage-
ment as follows ; — " We have felt great satisfaction in the zeal
manifested by the officers and teachers for promoting the best
interests of the School, and in the general harmony of the
family ; and we feel a confidence that the management of this
institution is still progressively improving." This type of report of
the general state of the School had now obtained for some years.
The Committee had acquired extraordinary confidence in their
chief officer — a confidence which never seems to have been at
fault, and which appears to have been shared in an equal degree
by Friends throughout the country. I'he School was always
full beyond its nominal complement, and the pressure upon
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I39
the list of those desiring admission was often exceedingly per-
plexing to the Committee. The range of studies remained
limited, but the teaching appears to have been sound and
thorough, and at this time conducive to considerable literary
inspiration among the children. Although the " Association
for the Improvement of the Mind" was not established until
182 1, there was a similar society inaugurated in 1816, by some
of the older boys — the most active of whom was the late Robert
Alsop — which, although not permanently successful in its organis-
ation, led up to the more brilliant movement of the later date.
At this distance of time it is exceedingly difficult to obtain
satisfactory general information from which to form an opinion
of the moral and religious tone ; but, if negative evidences may
be relied upon, it would seem that there was very little to com-
plain of in the former, whilst we must perhaps remain in a
good deal of ignorance as to the latter, on which authoritative
documents are almost expressionless. The Committee took
much interest in the discipline, sometimes suggesting methods
of administering it which did not, we think, always lead to
satisfactory results. In 1 814 it had recommended the exercise
of "paternal kindness" on the part of the teachers, as provoca-
tive of a " filial affection" towards them from the boys. This
suggestion initiated a policy of kindly and lenient discipline, in
which the recovery of transgressors to the path of good order
was sought for by a gentle treatment and kindly forbearance,
which, from a deficiency of robust justice, proved something of
a failure, inducing in the truculent a contempt which afterwards
led to the necessity for much severity. Yet upon those children
who were capable of appreciating the amelioration of the penal
code, and whose sympathies were ready to reciprocate a kind
intention, there is clear indication that, for some years, the
system worked well. In a " Record of Offences" covering the
years 1815 — 1820, we find that 166 cases of delinquency belong
to the first four years and a half over which the record extends,
and that no fewer than 144 occur in the year and a half that
140 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
close the period. We do not think that any one could peruse
this document without being convinced that undue leniency,
whilst for a time smoothing down some dissatisfied and often
turbulent elements, opened a way for the certain development
of a boisterous and unruly spirit, which saw in kindness nothing
but weakness, and which, when once evoked, was neither easily
nor quickly laid.
Without being conversant with all the circumstances of the
delinquencies reported in the record just alluded to, it would
be empirical to express a decided opinion upon the state of the
discipline of the period. That the tentative experiment of a
rule by " paternal kindness" produced incongruities of punish-
ment bordering on the grotesque is no proof that those who
administered the awards possessed any obliquity of vision as
to the deserts of the disorderly acts on which they pronounced
judgment. Their object in moral delinquencies was to heal
and restore. We may quarrel with their processes but not with
their intention.
Thomas Pumphrey, in later times, was wont to term " lying"
the peculiarly besetting sin of childhood. We do not know
that there was more of this sin in 1815 and succeeding years
than at any other period, but there was enough of it to support
Thomas Pumphrey's theory. It is indeed almost the, only
offence of any import brought before the masters' meeting
for the four years preceding 1820. In the last four months of
18 15 only one case of this offence is reported, but it involved
two boys who were, on their promise to avoid it in future, " put
on trial a little longer." In 1816, five instances of falsehood
occur. In four of these cases no punishment was awarded, as
the boys either " shewed some contrition" or " promised to be
more guarded," and the fifth was ordered to " keep off the flags
till he have leave." In 181 7, the number of cases of falsehood
reported is the same as in 181 6, and, although the same kindly
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I4I
attitude was maintained by the masters towards the weakness,
the punishment of having to learn and repeat, either before
the masters or the offender'^ class-mates or his school-fellows
generally. Watt's hymn on lying was introduced. Whilst these
moral offences were thus leniently dealt with, a boy who
climbed the beams of the shed, in search of a sparrow's nest,
was whipped, whilst another, for a similar offence, was " beaten
with the rod," and a third " forbidden to go into the shed."
And, that disobedience to human and divine law was ever
held a very different thing and punished by methods then
considered to be respectively appropriate, may be seen from
another contemporaneous incident. Some of the boys, con-
trary to rule, were found guilty of " buying, selling and
exchanging" amongst each other. The chief of these incipient
traffickers was caned. He evidently did not see the justice
of his punishment, however, for he went away and revenge-
fully " tore leaves out of several of his (school) books," for
which act he was " closely confined." The " deputation'' from
the two Committees which visited the School in 1817, and to
whose report we have already referred, suggested the erection
of those dismal abodes of woe called by a grotesque irony,
the " Light and Airy Hooms." It also proposed the distribution
of Rewards for good behaviour. The Committee adopted
both suggestions and, at the same time, abohshed a punish-
ment of long standing, regarded by the culprits as one of deep
malignity, which consisted of depriving a boy of his spice-money,
a term signifying neither coinage nor the " penny-notes" long
after this in vogue, but simply the right to select, from the
sweets, whip-cord, pocket-combs and other small wares which
old Mrs. Snowden displayed once a week on a table in one of
the school-rooms, a pennyworth of what his tastes or needs
suggested.
The " Light and Airy Rooms" were probably proposed in
the hope that they might not only perform a useful function in
142 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the discipline but be in some instances a mild substitute for
corporal punishment. They were not constructed until the
Spring of i8ig. Three of them were placed over the old
bakehouse in apartments which then constituted the ap-
prentices' study and the press-room, where copy books, &c.,
were made, but which now form the Supermtendent's private
rooms. They were (writing from recollection) about eight feet
square. The window of each had a heavy louvre shutter, which
excluded all view and nearly as much light, but through the
bars of which the prisoner, so minded, could see a few strips
of sky. In each of these rooms there was a strong chair with
a wooden seat but no other article of furniture. Prior to
being immured in one of these " dens,'' the culprit's pockets
were deprived of all their contents. On entering, the door
was closed upon him, a heavy bolt was drawn outside, and, as
the culprit heard the foot-steps of his " jailor " rapidly retreating
down the wooden stairs and dying away in the passage beyond,
his heart must often have died within him. Hours would
sometimes elapse before he again heard human voice or the
tread of human foot. Temporarily his earthly possessions were
gone, his friends, if he had any, were far away, his associates
were probably amusing themselves with his fate, he had no
company but his chair and his own unhappy thoughts. If his
fault had been a serious one his fare would be as simple as his
apartment — he would dine off bread and water. If he were
an old offender and well acquainted with prison life, he might,
spend his time in the ghastly diversion of cultivating a spirit
of revenge against his " tyrants " or amuse himself by vainly
trying to kick through the panels of his door, but time
generally tamed his spirit, and the recollection of the s.unlight
and pleasure outside led him back to a more reasonable mood.
If the culprit were a boy of a timid or sensitive nature, if a
dash of superstition mixed with his blood, or if the ghost-
stories of the bed-room had sunk into his beliefs, imagination
may depict, but no pen, the horrors that crept over such a
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 143
soul when the last faint light of day faded from the bars, and
" thickest dark did trance the sky." The " Fourth Room" was
on the floor below and was approached through a sort of store-
room where hardware, old and new, mixed with blacking
brushes and cheeses' If the other light and airy roorns were
dismal, this was both dismal and barbarous. Its door was of
unpainted slabs of deal, its floor was unpaved, its walls un-
plaistered. Within this dreadful cell the culprit sat upon a log
of wood. It was no doubt intended for the worst sort of
offenders, but in it were incarcerated, long after 1840, boys
whose worst offence was troublesome disobedience. The other
rooms were warmed by steam pipes, within a few years of their
erection, but this, we believe, never possessed even that
modicum of civilization. Boys were often confined for whole
days together in these rooms — at other times the punishment
was mitigated by allowing the offender to attend his classes.
The time of confinement varied greatly. At one period boys
were often in these cells for six days together. Instances are
on record in the masters' books of boys having been confined
eleven and twelve days, and one of an incarceration of three
weeks duration. The first boy who, so far as can be gathered
from the records, was imprisoned was sentenced for " dis-
obedience to a teacher,, taking a piece of bread out of the
dining room, and telling several untruths." After being in-
carcerated seven days, he penned the following petition to the
Masters : —
"By favour of the Masters' Meeting
' — would be much obliged to the masters if they would set him
at liberty, for he thinks }ie has had sufficient confinement to make him
behave better for the future and he will try to set a good example to his
school-fellows and attend to the advice of his masters, and he will mind
and speak the truth for the future. He has thought much about his past
actions."
This boy's supplication was successful, but, within two months,
he was beguiled by his love of field-mice, into running out of
144 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
" bounds " and was condemned to be whipped for the offence.
Whether this flagellation were more successful in the repression
of his irregularities, than had been his durance in the "light and
airy rooms," or he left the scene of his waywardness, is not clear
but his name appears no more on the "Record of Offenders."
The number of cases of delinquency of every kind reported
in 1815, and the following two years was remarkably small.
Towards the close of that period a little want of respect for
the younger apprentices and the monitors began to crop up,
and this spirit increased in 181 g together with a quarrelsome
tendency amongst a few boys. In 1820 the spirit of dis-
obedience and insubordination gained ground, and was not
always directed against the junior authorities. The Light and
Airy Rooms were in frequent requisition and floggings were not
rare. The disorderly element does not appear to have had a
large area in the school, but a certain clique appears to have
indulged in a rather reckless display of antagonism towards
law and order. Not content with private acts of disobedience,
this class sometimes organised schemes of disorder which led
to some severity, when, by action and reaction, a bad spirit
was created in this section of the school ; but its influence does
not appear to have seriously affected the boys in general. The
necessary increase of punishment, however, gave a bad impression
outside and produced some expression of dissatisfaction, which
the Committee thought it best, after investigating the matter, to
rebuke in the following minute which was probably made public: —
" 1820, Tenth Month. Reports having obtained wide circulation that some
boys who have lately left the school had been punished with undue severity,
this Committee has enquired into the same and are fully satisfied that the
discipline of the school has been grossly misrepresented, and that nothing
more than a salutary degree of correction has been administered. "
The floating of these reports and the necessity for a reply
could not but operate unfavourably within the School, the spirit
and tone of which did not improve much within the following
year or two. But we are anticipating.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHANGES IN THE TEACHING DEPARTMENT' — SPINNING ABANDONED
IGNORANCE OF CHILDREN ON ENTERING THE SCHOOL
MONITORS — CAUTIONS WITH REGARD TO RELIGIOUS INSTRUC-
TION — BIBLE TEACHING — LEATHERN BREECHES ABOLISHED
INTRODUCTION OF ENGLISH HISTORY — STYLE OF GENERAL
EDUCATION — EXAMINATIONS — LONG VISIT FROM CHARLOTTE
DUDLEY INFLUENCE OF SCRIPTURE TEACHING — CONSIDERA-
TION FOR DELINQUENTS —NICK-NAMES — WATER SUPPLY —
MONITORIAL SYSTEM INTRODUCED — JOSEPH DONBAVAND
RETIRES MATTHEW DOWNIE — GARDEN-SHED ERECTED —
CLASSIFICATION OF NEEDLEWORK EXECUTED BY THE GIRLS
i.v 1821.
The Committee of Fourth Month 18 17, which so considerably
influenced the disciphne, proposed, also, several changes in
the teaching department. In doing so, its chief object was
to influence favourably the Reading of the boys, to which it
considered much too little time was devoted to produce the excel-
lence which it regarded as the crowning glory of the School.
On examining the curriculum, it considered that too much time
was spent upon " the rules for punctuation,'' and " learning the
sounds of the vowels.'' To make way for more practice in
reading, it abolished the latter exercise altogether. As the
teachers of that day, and for many succeeding years, were
exceedingly anxious to maintain the purity of pronunciation
which was then a marked characteristic of the School, this
order was probably considered a step in the wrong direction.
If the Committee thought much of good reading, the masters
of Robert Whitaker's age thought quite as much of correct and
146 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
elegant speech. Every-day language was a study then ; gentle-
men were weighed by the polish and grace of their pronunciation
and the elegance and accuracy of their diction. Few things
were less pardonable than slip-shod adjectives and slovenly
constructions. The modern disease — slang — had not yet made
its appearance. To effect its object with regard to the reading,
the Committee placed it in the hands of two accomplished
young men already well-known for their refined tastes and their
love for elegant studies. Both were still serving the term of
their apprenticeship. Henry Brady was under nineteen years
of age, and Thomas Brown was not eighteen. To the former
was given the charge of the Upper Reading School and to the
latter, who was to have the assistance of a "judicious monitor,"
the Lower Reading School. They were advised to hear the
boys read in " sets of eight," and were especially requested to
question them carefully on the subjects of their reading and on
the meaning of words. Those who were privileged to be
Thomas Brown's pupils, a quarter of a century later, will not
fail to recollect how skilfully he drew out, by this method, the
intelligent reflection and vigorous attention of his boys. Henry
Brady's vacated post in the Front Writing School, which was
then presided over by William Hayward, was given to William
Doeg, then only sixteen years of age. And it may be well to
notice here, as an additional indication of the important services
rendered by the apprentices of this period, that when William
Hayward left Ackworth, shortly after this, William Doeg, then
little more than seventeen years of age, was placed in his post,
and continued to hold it for about nine years. He is said to
have been a very clever man, and was, in his day, considered to
have advanced to very high mathematical culture. His writing
was exceedingly beautiful, and, in after life, it was one of his
pleasant recreations to adorn and illuminate MSS. ; and
numerous exquisite specimens of marriage-certificates written
by him still exist. The best view of Ackworth School was
drawn and published by him : it was engraved on steel and is
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 47
now very rare. It is perhaps the only view worthy of the place
which has yet been taken, and is now historically valuable as
depicting the aspect of the School prior to many important
changes in the building. William Doeg also published a list of
Ackworth Scholars down to his time.
In addition to the modification of the class arrangements
above-named, the Committee, with a view to the relief of the
other classes, suggested that the junior department should be
enlarged and placed under a senior master — Joseph Donbavand
— whilst Henry King, an apprentice, should take the Back
Writing School. Although this part of the plan was not carried
out, in consequence of Henry King's health breaking down,
Joseph Donbavand shordy after took charge of the junior boys,
about twenty in number, whom he continued to teach, until he
finally retired, in the "Apartment," — then the room over the
stairs, in the centre of the boys' wing.
The art of spinning, which in early times formed an important
industry amongst the girls, had of recent years been gradually
gliding into neglect and, the fashion having much gone out
amongst the public and the wheels being now old and infirm,
it was finally abandoned in 18 17.
In the spring of 18 18, the Committee was able to con-
gratulate itself upon the arrangements it had set on foot in the
previous Spring. It found every department in excellent order,
the only exception to good conduct being amongst boys of
little influence. The reading had greatly improved and gave
entire satisfaction. The " care to instruct the children in the
principles of Christianity" had borne fruit in the increased
interest of the boys in the perusal of the Scriptures. At this
time the extreme ignorance of great numbers of the children
who entered the School cried loudly for some action. It had
become necessary to set apart a master for the especial pre-
paration of this class for the general work of the School. The
L 2
148 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
ignorance was by no means confined to those of the poorer
sort. The General Meeting of 181 7 had severely commented
upon it, and this Committee suggested to the Yearly Meeting
the desirability of urging upon Friends, throughout the
country, the duty of considering, as Monthly Meetings, the
state of education amongst their young children, and of securing
greater attention to the question. The' appeal issued by the
Yearly Meeting met with considerable response and, within
a few years, the condition of the children's education, on
entering the School, was found to have improved.
At no period, possibly, were the responsibilities of the
monitors greater, or their duties more arduous, than at this
period when so many of the teachers were very young. The
members of the corps not infrequently succumbed to the
ordeal through which they had to pass and were suspended or
dismissed from their office. Others bore bravely the taunts of
the disaffected elements of the school and were a great aid to
the authorities, but their views of the duties of their office
often required correction and, about this time or a little before,
the masters found it needful to draw up a revised list of duties,
in which their service was more definitely set forth. The
following sections of this document will shew the spirit which
the masters desired should rule the monitors and the general
nature of the assistance required from them.
" The general duty of monitors is to endeavour to prevent offences but
never to punish offenders ; not to behave in an overbearing manner when
giving admonition, but to try to persuade with gentleness and in a spirit of
humiUty.
"At the times of collecting, each monitor is to attend to the boys under
his care, to see that their hands and faces are clean, their hair combed,
stoclcings tied up, shoes fastened, &c., and to endeavour to keep them in
quietness whilst going to and coming from the meeting house, dining room
and lodging rooms, as well as in those places. They are also to use their
best endeavours to assist the masters, &c., in bringing forward the children
in learning.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I49
"They are to admonish their school-fellows whenever they appear in
danger of committing a fault or neglecting their duty ; but if their en-
deavours should not prove effectual, they are then requested to report the
case to one of the masters or to the Superintendent."
Both the masters and the Committee appear to have come to
regard the increased effort to impart religious instruction as an
effective lever for elevating the moral tone of the School, but
many of them did not fail to watch, with anxious attention, the
operation of the movement and, whilst the Committee very
warmly encouraged any true effort on the part of the teachers
to develop the original scheme, it now and then dropped a hint
of counsel or caution. The affectionate zeal for the best welfare
of their charge sometimes impelled the ladies of the West Wing
to overload their young people with work connected with this
department and, in 181 8, we find the Women's Committee,
whilst acknowledging the great value of the general effort
to impart religious and especially Scripture knowledge to the
girls, addressing the following judicious advice to the
teachers : — " We do not see corresponding benefit likely to
result from expecting or allowing the girls to commit to
memory portions of Friends Journals or Sacred History, as we
are apprehensive that which is designed for pleasure and profit
may, by this means, be viewed by many as a task, and a dis-
relish for these valuable writings be the consequence." Two
years after this, the Women's Committee again dropped a word
of caution : — " Impressed with the importance of religious
instruction, we have again weightily considered it, and, while
tenderly desirous of strengthening the hands of those engaged
in this good work simply to do that which is right in this and
in every other respect in which the advantage of the children
is concerned, we are anxious to guard all from proceeding
further than is consistent with the simplicity of our principles."
We find no such caution addressed to the boys' teachers,
though we discover abundant indication of the satisfaction of the
150 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Committee with the manner in which the masters performed
their duty to the subject and with the results. Joseph John
Gurney's scheme was not carried out in its entirety but its
spirit was adhered to as closely as the exigencies of school-life
probably admitted. He had much desired that Robert
Whitaker should take the boys an hour every morning for
Scripture instruction, regarding it as an excellent educational
medium in addition to its special value, but this was never
attempted. For some time, however, it was the practice for
the boys to meet for one hour in the week in the Meeting
House for the study of the Scriptures under one of the masters.
The chief object of the hour was the comparison of passages of
Scripture bearing on similar subjects and of those in the Old
typical or prophetical of events or doctrines found in the New
Testament. The master, with his reference Bible, directed the
boys' attention to some passage, whilst they sought for parallel
texts, but as they had no reference Bibles it usually fell to the
master to name the references and call upon individuals to read
the passages. It is easy to imagine that such an exercise
might become dry and lifeless. This was probably the ex-
perience of these " Reference Meetings," as they were called,
for they were not very long continued.
In 1820 an' old institution passed away in the disuse of
leather breeches. The Committee, apprehending that the
substitution of trowsers of velveteen or some other durable
material would not seriously increase the cost of the boys'
clothing, resolved to make the experiment. Whether the
whistling corduroys, which succeeded the leathern garment,
were better liked, we are not told. One specimen of the latter
was long retained for temporary penal use by boys of all sizes
who inked or otherwise abused their trowsers.
The introduction of English History as a recognised study
took place contemporaneously with the extinction of the old
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 151
fashion just referred to. That a Httle history had been taught
prior to this date is more than likely, but it never before
attained to the dignity of being reported upon by the Ex-
amining • Committee. It must have been hailed with much
pleasure by the boys of the period, but, like geography, was
probably taught only to the first class in each room. The
general education of the School at this time and for many succeed-
ing years was, by common consent, much in advance, not only of
similar Schools, but of establishments professing a superior rank.
Its grand virtue was thoroughness. There was probably no
such reading, no spelling so accurate, no grammar so sound,
no arithmetical readiness and accuracy so general as those of
Ackworth, in the country. True there was no study of the
Classics, but, except that which was gained in the highest forms
of a few public schools, most of the Latin of schools which
then sacrificed everything to it was little more than the parrot-
work of memory, to have imitated which would have been little
benefit to the Ackworth boy. If he did not study Conic
Sections or dive into the Calculus, he mastered the elements of
arithmetic and mensuration, and did some good work in
algebra and trigonometry.
Hitherto the survey of the state of the children's education
had been made by a rapid examination of each individual.
This was a laborious and tedious process, and, although not
without its advantages, was ill calculated to interest the
companies which gathered to the great annual public examina-
tions. The Committee, therefore, in 1821, resolved upon the
following plan : — " That the boys, leaving out those of ' the
Apartment,' should form four divisions and that the Examiners
should of course be divided in the same way. That the boys
should be examined in the several branches in their respective
classes, instead of individually, and that the remarks of the
Committee be made generally as to the acquirements of the .
children in the various branches." This change gave a great
152 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
impulse to the interest Friends took in the General Meetings
and led up to a proportionate increase of the influence of that
gathering upon the general fortunes and development of the
School. The Committee, in its more private examinations in
the spring and autumn, retained its method of examining every
individual. A great advantage of this plan lay in the opportunity
it afforded to the members of the Committee, who were always
acquainted previously with the state of each boy's conduct,
of giving a litde encouragement to the striving, or advice and
warning to the careless and wayward.
In the winter of 1820-1, the Girls' Wing was favoured with a
remarkably interesting visit of several months' duration from
Charlotte Dudley. A strong conviction that it was her religious
duty to offer herself for this service led the Committee to
accept it with a readiness and confidence which were not
disappointed. At the close of her long visit, it expressed its
satisfaction with it in the following minute : — " During her stay
here the influence of her example, under her tender solicitude
for the welfare and improvement of the children, has been
very grateful, and her services in the family at large useful and
truly acceptable. We appreciate her services very highly."
In spite of the exceptional disorderly elements before referred
to, the spring Committee of 1821 was deeply gratified by its
enquiry into the general state of the conduct and studies, as the
following extracts from their report will shew : —
"We have seldom gone through an examination of this sort with an
equal degree of heartfelt satisfaction both as it regards the improvement
mads and the general good conduct of the boys.
"No relaxation has been observed in the endeavours of those who have
the care of the children, with regard to the principal object the Society had
in view in the establishment of Ackworth School, viz., a guarded and
religious education of our youth . The children are particularly encouraged
to peruse the Holy Scriptures with diligence, and the enquiiy, which
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 53
frequently takes place, leaves no room to doubt that their increasing
acquaintance with the sacred writings has been a mgans, under the Divine
Blessing of leading, them to a closer self-examination and a more circum-
spect conduct : and we have the satisfaction of reporting several striking .
instances of reformation among some of the most refractory boys in the
School.
The allusion to refractory boys warns the reader that, under
the most roseate aspect of a school with so many inmates,
there must ever exist some yet untutored and strong natures who
delight to follow the devices of their own hearts and whose
reclamation is, at the best, a work of time and care. That
care and patient labour were not wanting on the part of the
masters, the above report sufficiently suggests, but an instance,
drawn from the masters' own books, and possibly having
reference to one of the reclaimed of the Report, will show the
operation of the consideration shown towards a class of
delinquents, then much more .common than now, and one
which was usually treated with little sympathy by school-
masters. The minute recording the case is as follows : —
' ' This meeting is concerned to find that has again shewn signs of
insubordination and decided opposition to the orders of the teachers.
Since the labour bestowed upon him seven months ago, it has been
gratifying to us to have to believe that he has taken pains with himself to
correct such parts of his conduct as have so frequently been the means of
bringing him into disgrace ; but, a few days ago, an instance of wilful
disobedience seemed to render it necessary that he should again be
brought under the notice of this meeting. He has been before it and has
received such advice as the circumstances of his case seemed to require,
accompanied with an intimation that a repetition of such conduct may
subject him again to the punishment he received last Filth Month."
Although this youth was, a month after this, reported for
want of respect to one of the apprentices ( — he was an im-
petuous boy — ) the kind consideration which the masters had
for his weakness seems to have had a healing influence, for he
never appeared again as a delinquent.
154 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
It was about this time that an occasion of a wider spread
turbulence occurred which indicates that, under a generally
quiet and orderly mood, the wilder spirit of the time would
occasionally burst forth under provocation. In this instance
it is clear that an impression (doubtless erroneous) of out-
raged justice was the inciting cause of the disturbance. For
some cause, not mentioned, the mistresses had punished the
"girls by forbidding them to come , upon their "green." The
boys missing the usual appearance of their sisters and
cousins and probably receiving, surreptitiously, information from
some of their young lady-friends who thought themselves much
wronged that tyranny had got abroad in the West Wing, took
upon themselves to resent, if they could not resist, the hand of
oppression. Collecting upon their own green in large numbers
whilst several of the mistresses were taking an airing upon
that of the girls, the boys made an uproarious demonstration
against them, no details of which are authoritively stated,
except such as may be surmised of school-boys by the phrase
" several of the mistresses were grossly insulted." The masters
held a sort of Court Martial on the ring-leaders of the out-
rage — fifteen in number — but whether they felt some sympathy
with the movement themselves, which they brand with
no more criminal description than " taking upon themselves
to suppose that such deprivation was unnecessary and unjust,"
or whether they were loath to nip in the bud hatred of
oppression, even when mistakenly directed, or they were non-
plussed by finding three monitors among the fifteen who had
been active in urging on the demonstration, can perhaps ' never
be known. But none of the fifteen were caned or flogged or
immured in the Light and Airy rooms, or even ordered to learn
one of Watts's Hymns or a passage from those other works
promoted to the service of punishing young culprits which
retained in the minds of generations of school-boys an unenvi-
able notoriety as instruments of torture — " The Economy
of Human Life" and Blair's " Address to young Persons."
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 15$
Perhaps the masters desired, in a sly way, to intimate their
opinion of the severity with which the girls were treated, by
imposing upon the fifteen offenders the like punishment and
so " forbade them to go upon the green."
The prevalence of nicknames at this time gave the teachers
extreme concern. It would appear to have been a new disease
in the school and its appearance stirred the authorities deeply.
Month after month they waged war against the invader. It
did but extend its operations. It assailed the masters them-
selves with sobriquets. Boys who adopted the use of these
odious terms were punished in varied ways — they were caned —
they were confined — they were immured in the Light and Airy
Rooms (two of them for six long days each) but no paean
records a victory over the barbarous foe.
Measles entered the school about the same time as nicknames
but proved neither so offensive nor so unconquerable. They
attacked thirty-one of the children, all of whom recovered.
Another circumstance which caused some anxiety in 1821
was the continued failure of the water supply from Bell Close.
For two years the water had all been carted from the troughs
at the side of the road leading to the Moor Top. Permission
was given in the summer to Robert Whitaker, assisted by a
sub-committee of five Friends, to ascertain by experiments, if
possible, at a cost not exceeding twenty guineas, where and
how a supply could best be obtained. In a few months these
Friends reported that, by deepening the old well in Bell
Close, and by cutting several lateral drifts into it, they had
succeeded in obtaining a sufficiency.
We have seen that in 1807 Joseph Lancaster's Monitorial
System had been urged upon the attention of the Committee
by David Barclay, but that it was not then adopted. The
156 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
General Meeting of 1821 re-opened the question, strongly
recommending the Committee to try the method. Henry
Alexander, of Ipswich, who was well acquainted with it, agreed
to spend a few days at Ackworth to explain the working of
it to the teacher who was to undertake it. Joseph Donbavand,
who was in charge of the "Apartment," where the twenty
youngest boys were taught, and who had been in the service
of the School from its commencement, was feeling the in-
firmities of age, and the Committee, desirous to see the new
system worked with vigour, released their old officer on a
pension of ;^So per annum, on which he retired with his
devoted daughter to a quiet retreat in the village. Henry
Hawley, one of the apprentices, was installed in the direction
of the new school, Henry Alexander kindly remaining for
some days to assist in its organization. For the purpose of
seeing the practical working of the Lancasterian system,
Henry Hawley was sent early in 1822 to Manchester where he
had every facility for observing its working under the most
favourable circumstances. It was at this time tried on a
small scale only, and the "Apartment" still served for the
junior boys, under the new arrangement. They numbered
about thirty. The Committee for some time regarded the
system as a success and little change was made in the character
of the teaching there until the system was tried on a much
more extended scale in 1834. It was usually directed by the
eldest apprentice.
In 1822, soon after the retirement of Joseph Donbavand,
another officer of the Institution who had served it from the
commencement resigned his post. This was Matthew Downie,
the gardener. He is said to have been something of a
character though in what direction his eccentricity ran we have
not discovered. He figured in one of those school rhymes
which boys of all time seem to cultivate, the saving quality of
which appears to lie in their jingling meaninglessness :
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 157
' ' Billy Farden.in the garden
Under the gooseberry tree
Matthew Doney, on his old Scotch pony,
Made Billy Farden flee.
In the summer of 1822 a shed was erected fronthig the
boys' gardens and running from the end of the old Meeting
House to the south end of the large shed. It was only six
feet wide but it would be difficult to estimate the amount of
happiness it conferred upon the boys of several generations.
It was a kind suggestion of Robert Whitaker's that it should
be erected, " that the boys might have a more convenient shelter
from heat and rain" than they possessed before; and here,
on sunny First Day afternoons, what adventures were related,
what stories brightened the passing hour. Probably few nooks
about the place have witnessed more true enjoyment than
Robert Whitaker's garden shed.
To an age in which piano and pencil, sewing machine and
mechanical knitter threaten with extinction plain sewing and
stocking-knitting, it may be interesting to know what the girls
of Ackworth School accompUshed before it was ever dreamed
that the two last mentioned might become lost arts. In 1821,
in addition to earning, by fine work, ^^24 153. 6d., they made
for the school the following articles : —
For the Centre. For the Girls' Wing.
230 Shirts 81 Aprons
44 Counterpanes 151 Pocket-handkerchiefs
17 Sheets 120 Tuckers
20 Towels 177 Shifts
10 Cravats 98 Night-caps
4 Night-caps 29 Day-caps
8 Boys' Pinafores 12 Towels
126 Pocket-handkerchiefs 2 Counterpanes
3 Table-cloths 4 Pinafores
75 Bolster-cases 6 Cushion-covers
9 Pillow-cases
158 history of ackworth school
Knitting.
91 Pairs of Girls' Stockings
60 „ II 11 footed
160 Pairs' of Boys' Stockings
82 ir 11 II footed.
In all 1,620 pieces of work — an average of about thirteen
pieces and a half to each girl in the year — besides the number,
not defined in the accounts, represented by the work for which
the school received payment to the amount above stated and
all the household mending.
CHAPTER IX.
committee's satisfaction in its officers ASSOCIATION
FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND ITS EARLY
LABOURS JOHN HATTERSLEY AND OTHER ESSAYISTS
VISIT OF THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER — VOCABULARY
TYPHUS-FEVER OF 1824 — TICKETS — PRIZES — VISIT TO THE
" villa" WEEDING THE GREEN — PONTEFRACT MONTHLY
MEETING — WM. HOWITT's ACCOUNT OF A WALK — LATIN
CLASS FORMED — ^ISABELLA HARRIS RETIRES THOMAS
HARVEy'S OPINION OF THE PERIOD — A LADY'S RECOL-
LECTIONS — HOLIDAY GRANTED — INCREASED FACILITIES FOR
MENTAL CULTURE — MEETING HOUSE SEATS SUPPLIED WITH
BACKS — WOODEN TRENCHERS ABANDONED — OTHER IMPROVE-
MENTS — -DISCIPLINE — INTELLECTUAL PURSUITS.
At the risk of appearing guilty of an oft-told tale, we must
here again refer to the Committee's confidence in and apprecia-
tion of the masters of this period. They were, by the common
consent of abundant testimony, for some years a class of
remarkably superior men. Committee after Committee seems
to vie with each other in generous praise of those who so
ably and nobly wrought at the work. After examining the
School in the spring of 1823, the Committee says : — " The
harmony, zeal and assiduity of the teachers, the ability with
which they communicate instruction and the persevering
solicitude which they evince for the best interests of those
under their care, continue to deserve our appprobation and
encouragement."
Under the influence and guidance of these able and cultured
men, the intellectual activity of the boys was elicited with great
l6o HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
success. The dozen years immediately subsequent to 1820
form perhaps the most brilliant extra-class literary period of
which the School has to boast. The " Association for the Im-
provement of the Mind," which commenced its career in 1821
and which was the expression of a thirst for culture which
the refined tastes of the masters had evoked, was carried on
with an energy and unflagging zeal truly remarkable. All
the masters and senior apprentices took active part in its
operations, and most of them inspirited the young to con-
tinued effort by well sustained series of bright sparkling
articles of their own. Four hundred essays were produced by
this Association of twenty-four boys and their teachers within
the first three years of its existence and, of these, two hundred
were copied and still exist to prove the skill and ability by
which the movement was sustained. Robert Whitaker was the
Treasurer of the Society, but the presidency rotated amongst
the masters and senior apprentices. To give point to essay-
writing and to afford a permanent means of criticism of the
foibles or fashions that arose in the School, as well as of the
doings and writings of the members, a Periodical entitled
'■'■The Censor" ^■ds instituted without delay, and continued to
appear with more or less regularity down to 1827. Its articles,
which are always brightly and often brilliantly written, cover a
vast variety of social and intelle'ctual questions. Whether on
subjects like " Self-importance," " Exaggeration,'' " Minding
one's own business" or on " Bird's-nesting, and " Grumbling,"
the articles are always kind and good-natured, happy and
attractive, eminently calculated to draw reflecting boys up, and
out of petty ways. They were probably written by many
hands and usually, no doubt, by teachers. Of the early
Essayists among the boys, John Hattersley was facile princcps.
His work is very remarkable for so young a writer and must
have been of great benefit to his fellow-members amongst the
boys, in encouraging their aspirations after literary excellence
and in giving tone and quality to their efforts. The most
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL l6l
suitable example of his poetical effusions for quotation in
these pages is his " Scenes in the Play-ground of a School" —
the lines describing the pastime of skipping, then and long
after so much in vogue amongst the Ackworth boys, having
been so familiar to a by-gone age as to become historic.
SCENES IN THE PLAY-GROUND OF A SCHOOL.
From School released, the joyous bands betake
To various pastimes : — part two bodies form,
And front to front stand gazing ; till some bold
And strong adventurer, burning to -win
By stealth or strength or swift dexterity.
Some trophy of his skill, on the other side
Intrudes and, thro' a host of adversaries,
Unfearful winds his way ; and, if success
Attend his enterprise, returns in triumph,
Exultant at the advantage he has gained.
But if his speed betray him, or his foes
Entrap his cautious steps, he stands alone —
A captive hero gazing at their sport —
Till some kind hand release him — then he speeds
Back to his friends again. — Another part
Leap o'er the ground and try their agile limbs
In many a youthful frolic, springing high —
And then descend and then rebound again
With feet elastic as the Indian gum. —
Aloof from these the dexterous skipper bounds
And lifts his slender form and thrive revolves
The cord ere on his feet again he lights :
As if a friendly cloud sustained his frame
Or grosser atmosphere kindly upheld him.
And then he sinks and, rising gracefully,
The self-same round keeps on until his blood
Revolves a brisker current in his veins ;
With emulation now his visage glows ;
And, as again he rises and again.
He feels the pride of conscious excellence
Thrill in his heart and, on his fellows, looks
With smiles of skill superior. — Other sports
Fill up their happy hours ; but chief these three
M
1 62 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Predominate, till the unwelcome bell,
Harsh pealing in their ears, bids them retire
Once more to School — where, poring o'er their tasks,
They long to hail their fav'rite sports again —
Unthinking that those tasks, so irksome deemed.
Prepare them for the scenes of future life
And fit them for the world."
John Hattersley, Feb., 1823.
John Hattersley cultivated the literary tastes which this
"Association" first drew out and, some years after leaving
school, pubHshed a volume of poems to which competent
critics gave warm praise. When the little Society com-
memorated, in 1 83 1, the tenth anniversary of its establishment,
he sent some verses in honour of the occasion. Throughout
these there runs a thread of sadness, which, if not born of
morbid sentiment, would certainly betoken that disappoint-
ment in what life had presented to him had entered his heart.
Two quotations may here be given depicting his sense of
indebtedness to the Association and his pleasant memory of
some of those who, with himself, had been amongst its earliest
members.
" Ten years ago ! — in light and shade
How fleetly have they rolled along
Since first our youthful band essayed,
In trembling strains, the voice of song !
4' -^ * * * * *
But where are they ? — It well may be
On Life's tempestuous Ocean tossed.
Sweet Scene !- -their memory turns to thee
So lightly prized, so early lost !
But, roughly as their bark is driven.
And dark as clouds may o'er them roll.
Thankful for all that thou hast given.
Earth's noblest gift — a cultured soul. "
After pursuing his studies privately, in the intervals of business
for some years, John Hattersley resolved to enter the University
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 63
of Cambridge and, in 1847, obtained the eighth place among
the Wranglers. His letter to Robert Whitaker, announcing his
success, is interesting as a testimony to the value he placed
upon an Ackworth School training.
Dear and Respected Friend,
I cannot but write and tell thee of the favourable completion
of my studies at Cambridge. On the 22nd inst. I learned my place in the
Mathematical list — eight Wrangler. This is a much better degree than I
had ventured to hope for ; it is in all human probability the introduction to a
course of occupation of " character the most consonant to my tastes and
pursuits — the teaching of young men of a high order of intellect (the
picked men of England I must say) under circumstances the most favourable
for success. I look forward with much delight to this prospect.
At Ackworth School, and under thy government, I began that course of
study which has ended in this success : to the sound elementary instruction
I received there I am quite sure I have been indebted for my best habits —
such as have done much to antagonise the almost inevitable evils of an after-
course of self-instruction. As the first Ackworth Scholar, I believe, whose
name has been published on the doors of our Senate House, I feel a pride
and pleasure in making this acknowledgment of the benefits received from
my first Alma Mater and will not affect to doubt that the acknowledgment
of it will gratify one whom I have so much reason to love and respect.
Believe me, dear friend,
Most sincerely thine,
Jan. 24th, 1847. JOHN HATTERSLEY.
John Hattersley's after-career was marked by some dis-
appointments. As a college-tutor he was not very successful,
his skill in training others being unequal to his extraordinary
power of acquiring knowledge. But he did much useful, if
somewhat obscure, work for the book-sellers, in assisting in the
preparation of works of reference ; and he was also employed
by the British and Foreign Bible Society in translating the
Scriptures into languages known to but few English scholars.
He finally retired to Pau, on account of his health, and there
employed himself in teaching European languages, with most
of which he is said to have been familiar.
M 2
164 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Amongst the boys who distinguished themselves by their
essays, during the early years of the Association, may be especially
mentioned Robert William Patching, Richard Batt, whose love
of poetry in after years led him to publish a valuable selection
of poems and verses, Henry Deane, whose article on " Peace
and War" gave much promise, Thomas Barritt, Robert Nash,
and James Wright, whose sensible and thoughtful articles were
much admired. In 1823 the brothers James and John Morley
began to shine and, soon after, the logical good sense and
straightforward style of Thomas Harvey appears, not however
without a certain rounded phraseology that suggests admiration
of the Johnsonian epoch. Thomas Lister — the future "Barnsley
Poet" — figures in verse at the same date, and his effusions
already manifest that love of birds which afterwards dis-
tinguished him and which was truly in his case a gentle passion.
In his " Pleasures of a Morning in Spring " we find this
incipient joy in the feathered creation displayed : —
" The sylvan choristers renew their lay,
Their pleasing anthems fill the listening grove ;
From every tree and bush and tender spray
Proceed ten thousand tuneful notes of love."
Many of the early productions are allegorical-rafter the model
of the " Vision of Mirza " — many others are in dialogue, also
reflecting a style then much more used than now ; but most of
them are distinguished by considerable originality, and a finish
which is the unmistakable indication of exceedingly careful
education, and the presence of a polished intellectual atmos-
, phere. The skill in composition of the youthful members was
also drawn out by frequent practice of phrases illustrative of a
number of synonymous words or terms, and their thinking facul-
ties were developed by the introduction of questions for general
discussion, some of which must have exercised their intellects
severely, they not unfrequently being of the following type —
"What is it that regulates and fixes the wages of labour and the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 65
price of everything bought and sold ? " " Have middle-men in
trade a tendency to make things dearer or cheaper ? "
Another medium of instruction devised for the benefit of the
members was a current register of events — chiefly in the great
world outside — which, under the title of the "Ackworth
Gazette," periodically infused its new blood into their minds.
If it did not deal much in the seething political movements of
the time, it discussed the fashionable Aeronautic science and
adventure, told of the wonders revealed by the return of the
long lost Parry or, perhaps, intrenched on the province of
the "Censor,'' by assailing the home-manners of the time,
as when a Committee Friend, resident for a while in the
School and wearied with the constant banging of doors,
obtained the insertion of the following doggerel : —
"As every clashing, dashing din
Invades our nervous pores,
Therefore, dear boys, when you come in,
Deal gently with the doors;''
The first number of the " Gazette " appeared on the 9th
of Ninth Month, 1823, and an early number had the honour
of presenting its readers with the following account of a visit
paid to the School by the Duke of Gloucester and his suite : —
"On the 1st day of the week and the last of the II Month (1823) about
half-past twelve o'clock at noon, the Duke and a numerous company of
attendants arrived in two carriages at the entrance of the Office Court and
were straightway shewn into the Committee Room, whence they passed to
the Girls' Dining Room and saw the girls at dinner. After a few minutes
they were shewn into the Boys' Dining Room, and witnessed the mode of
simultaneous stepping in which they repair to their seats. At the time
of silence the Duke took off his hat and, turning round, made a motion to
the rest of the company to do the same. In a short time the party left the
room, and were successively shewn the' several parts of the Girls' Wing,
the Lodging Rooms, Kitchen, Apothecary's Shop, and other parts of the
premises. After dinner the boys had another opportunity of seeing the
royal visitor as he passed through their Wing to inspect the Meeting House.
1 66 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Then, having seen as much of the Establishment as the time and weather
"would permit, the day being very rainy, the Duke at half-past one o'clock
returned to his carriage, expressed himself highly gratified with his visit,
and ' hoped the Institution would long continue and prove a blessing to the
Society,' "
But having introduced this young " Association " to our
readers, we must leave its future history to be renewed in its
appropriate place in our narrative.
In 1823 the '-'Vocabulary" which had been expressly com-
piled for the use of the School, at the Committee's request, by
Dr. Binns, assisted by Wm. Payne, and which was first printed
in 1 80 1, had now reached a sufficiently extensive popularity
in the country at large, to enable Samuel Darton to offer to
supply the School with all the copies it might ever require on
condition that he might have the use of the copyright. The
Committee agreed to the arrangement, only stipulating that no
alterations should be made in it without the sanction of the
Committee.
This year also extensive improvements were effected in the
kitchen, into which a new cooking apparatus was introduced, at
a cost of ;^i8o. Whilst the kitchen was upset, it was resolved
to erect over it two long contemplated nurseries. Not many
months after their completion, they were called into use by the
first of those frightful attacks of typhus fever, which rendered
the next decade so sadly memorable. It broke out towards
the close of 1824. The medical attendant described the
complaint as "a disease not contagious, but an inflammatory
epidemic fever," and he averred that, in " three or four cases
only had typhoid symptoms appeared.'' On the last day of
the Eleventh Month John Donbavand, one of the Grammar
Masters, died of the disorder and in the following First Month
two of the girls succumbed to it. There were, at one time,
seventeen cases and, in all, sixty. In referring, by minute, to
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 167
this visitation the Committee makes the following reference
to one of the girls who died : —
' ' In recording this account which is calculated to raise some mournful
reflections, we have been comforted in learning that one of these dear
children, who was favoured with the full use of her mental powers to the
end, experienced great peace and complete resignation to the Divine Will
in her last moments. On being informed, about an hour before her change,
that there was little probability of her parents reaching Ackworth while she
was in mutability, she replied, with much composure, — 'The will of the
Lord be done.' Slie then took an affectionate leave of her younger sister,
putting one arm around her neck and advising her to be a good girl. She
then added, ' Give my love to my parents and brothers and sisters, and say
that- 1 am not afraid to die, I feel happy.' She also took a solemn leave of
her teachers, one after another, expressing her gratitude to them for their
kindness and their care in her education. Life was then fast ebbing, but she
repeated the Lord's Prayer audibly and concluded, — ' Not my will but
Thine, O Lord, be done ! ' She then expired like a person going to sleep. "
The introduction of prizes, as rewards for good conduct, in
18 1 7, had operated in a manner which gave considerable satis-
faction to the promoters of the system. The gauge of conduct
was the accumulation of tickets obtained for punctilious
observance of the regulations of the school. These tickets
consisted of small square cards of various colours, those of
each colour being stamped with the same numerical value.
Until 1824 each boy preserved his own in his purse or elsewhere,
but in that year a system of banking was introduced, partially,
probably, to encourage a cumulative habit amongst the boys,
partially to prevent certain risks of loss, but also probably
having, as one object, the quality of affording a ready inspection
into the state of every boy's conduct at any moment. The
distribution of rewards to those who accumulated the largest
number of tickets was not made with any great flourish of
trumpets. No public character was invited to present, to the
happy receivers, the prizes of self-sacrifice and virtue — no
galaxy of fair ladies collected to smile approval upon them — no
loud cheers greeted the winners. About the period of which
1 68 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
we are writing, the quiet hour before breakfast was chosen for
the performance. At 6.30 a.m. the sound of the bell called
all the boys into the shed, when they were requested to take
into their various classes all their tickets, which were there
surrendered to the masters, who noted the number presented
by each boy. This accomplished, the boys were dismissed for
a quarter of an hour — a space of time accounted sufficient by
the masters to form, on the basis of the ticket record, a list of
the sixty boys, or about that number, who should be rewarded.
The bell then rang again and all the boys trooped into the
dining room and were seated on forms placed down one side of
the room, but swinging in a little at each end, the better to
bring, under the eyes of all, the tables in the centre of the
room whereon were displayed the prizes. They who were to re-
ceive the coveted treasures having been called to the front seats
then made, their choice in the order of merit. At the close of
the ceremony each boy received five tickets with which to start
' him in life once more and then, amidst the rejoicings of the
more successful and the groans of the less fortunate, the room
was cleared and the tables were laid for breakfast. On the
only occasion in which we find any statistics of the number of
tickets presented for these rewards, the highest prize was won
by a boy who had accumulated 1,294; whilst the lowest
number for which one was received was 145. This was in 1823,
and that year an additional pleasure was provided for forty
of the prize holders, by the kindness of Luke Howard, who
invited them to drink tea with him at "the Villa," in Low
Ackworth. This was a treat of no small magnitude in times
when for four, five or even a still greater number of years, an
Ackworth school-boy might possibly never enter a private house,
or sit at a private table. At the " Villa," he had a host and
hostess proverbial for kindness and hospitality ; he sat down to
viands ample in quantity and delicate in quality, in a room
literally glowing with the fresco landscapes of the Italian artist
Aglio. To the white-washed walls and sanded stone floors of
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 69
his dining-room at the school, the carpetted rooms of Luke
Howard, with their 'treasure-adorned tables, must have been
like fairy halls to the Ackworth scholar of three or four years'
experience.
The practice of giving rewards for good conduct continued
for twenty years after this time, although the standards whereby
merit was judged, were from time to time modified. It is now
exceedingly doubtful if it were ever of real service to the
tone of the school at large. Its greatest advantage was, per-
haps,' the exhibition of a stimulus to care in small duties of
order, which -produced in some boys a habit of obedience to
regulation. It may have assisted the reign of Law. It is
certain, however, that many of its tendencies were evil. It was
a source of disappointment, irritation and discouragement, lead-
ing to recklessness amongst a class whose restless and active
teriiperaments needed to be led into self-restraint by something
more attractive than a yearly prize, which too often entailed
upon them a'daily vexation. The masters of later times con-
tinually found themselves baffled ^to discover the line of
demarcation between the meritorious and the undeserving.
Sometimes, when guided by the hard and fast line of the
system, a boy, who had the first half of the year acquired a
large number of tickets, was able to retain sufficient to place
him on the reward list after a second half-year of very unsatis-
factory conduct. Wearied with battling with the anomalies
which constantly presented themselves, the masters proposed to
the Committee, in 1844, the discontinuance of the system, at
the same time suggesting that the amount usually expended
upon rewards should be placed at their disposal, by means of
which they might be able to confer occasional privileges upon
the especially deserving. The Committee adopted the sugges-
tion to abolish rewards in the old form and granted ^30 per
annum to enable the masters to carry out their proposed scheme.
The money was usually spent, we beHeve, in procuring extra
lyo HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
lectures from eminent men, assisting tlie masters in presenting
more costly experiments when lecturing themselves, and in the
purchase of apparatus. It was occasionally applied to the
gratification of a deserving section of the school, but much
more frequently for the benefit or pleasure of the whole.
The greatest gaiety of the year was at this time, as at all
others, perhaps, the General Meeting, when sometimes even by
those pre-railway days as many as 300 visitors collected ; but
only second to it was the day when the Friends' Monthly
Meeting was held at Pontefract, in the Fifth Month. It was
almost the only whole holiday in the twelve months. True
there was one other day in the year called a holiday by one
of those perversions of a grim humour which delights in the
lucus a noil lucendo mode of speech. That was inaugurated for
the purpose of weeding the large area of pebbles with which
the upper part of the " green " was then paved and, if any time
could be snatched during the day from this hated occupation,
it was supposed to be spent in getting the little slips of garden
ground into good order in prospect of the approaching General
Meeting, and especially in building up or repairing their " clatty
sides" as the edgings of the foot path were termed, the "clatty"
being composed simply of a quantity of the earth of the garden
worked up with water into a firm clay-like substance, with which
some boys very deftly built up an edging that looked almost
exactly like a line of polished flag. Of skill in this mystery the
Ackworth boy was almost as proud as of his skipping. The
weeding was apportioned to each boy by one of the apprentices
who, early in the morning, scored the pebbled area with chalk
lines which were supposed to contain, as nearly as a rough and
ready guess admitted of, equal quantities of labour. Fortunate
above his fellows M'as the boy who could, on that occasion,
possess himself of a strong knife or a sharply pointed trowel.
They who were obliged to abstract the stubborn weed — and
surely no weed so stubborn ever grew — by dint of finger
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 171
and slip of wood, had a very weary time of it. From the
constant abrasion which the upper spikes suffered from the
daily play upon it of a hundred and eighty pairs of nimble
feet, the little plant had a revengeful way of spreading itself
through every crevice between the pebbles, and striking its
tough roots to an unfathomable depth. We do not know
whether any boy ever sufficiently overcame the solemnity
imposed upon his spirit by the survey of the little weedy
patch before his own eyes, to stand erect for a moment for the
purpose of gazing upon nearly two hundred of his school-fellows
struggling on their knees with a foe that seemed to many of
them ineradicable. But if such a one did ever, with due
reflection, look upon that singular scene, he must have reinem-
bered it to his dying day. But if the work was sufficiently
woeful to the multitude, there was ever one individual amongst
it whose sorrows were more grievous than those of all the rest,
for he bore the brunt of a hundred disappointments and, if his
stock of patience ever lasted out that long weary day, he
certainly belonged to the race of the good and the true, and
might rightly be styled one of earth's noblest sons, for a very
miserable duty was that of the Master who, constantly appealed
to by boys ever easily satisfied with their own labours, was as
constandy compelled to play upon their worst feelings by oft-
repeated refusals to pass their work. But to return to the real
holiday of the year — the Pontefract Monthly Meeting day.
On that great occasion, eighteen or twenty boys were chosen
by lot, from amongst those who expected to leave within the
following year, for the privilege of going to Pontefract. As the
Friends of that town were not numerous, a larger number of
boys could not comfortably have been entertained by them.
Great was the joy of those who drew the slip of paper containing
the simple words " Eo ad Pontefractum" but greater still the
delight of those of that select company who had the good
fortune to be invited to dine at Thomas Firth's; for these
had the range of his wondrous liquorice fields, and of the
172 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Pomfret cake manufactory behind his shop. But a visit to
the ruins of the once grand old palace-fortress furnished the
cream of the day's delight. Climbing its crumbling walls for
the fine views its lofty site commanded, rambling through its
terraced gardens, plucking the lilac blooms>; diving into its
once frightful dungeons in search of the blood of the murderegL
king ; listening to the story of the manner in which the Duke
of Gloucester paved his way to the throne, as Richard III., by
the foul murder, within its walls, of Earl Rivers, Richard Lord
Grey, Sir Thomas Vaughan, Sir Richard Hawse, and others ;
called to imagine the horrors it had witnessed in the Civil War ;
the Ackworth school-boy, if he did not, in addition, visit the
ruins of All Saints Church, and drink in the beauty of its old
tower and crumbling aisles, gathered, in one day, associations
that enriched many an after hour. Whilst this select band was
thus engaged the boys who remained behind were by no means
unhappy. An early bell summoned them after breakfast to
assemble for a walk — not one of the ordinary promenades taken
once every five or six weeks when, mile after mile, the unbroken
column marched out and home again — but a walk to Hessle
Green for the purpose of a free and joyous scamper amongst
the brackens, bushes, and rabbits.
William Howitt speaking of a period twenty years prior to
this, gives a charming description of an occasion similar to the
one to which we now refer, and applicable to it in almost every
word, which, to those who have not his book at hand, will be
again read with appreciative enjoyment : —
" The bell rang,'' says he, "they ran to collect in the shed— they drew up
in two lines facing each other, perhaps two yards apart. Large wicker
baskets were brought forth from the store-room, piled with hats of all
imaginable shapes and species ; for they were such as had been left by the
boys from the commencement of the Institution ; they wear none except at
these times : and there they were — broad-brims, narrow-brims ; brown,
black, and white ; pudding-crowns, square-crowns, and even sugarloaf-
crowns, such as Guy Faux himself wore. These without ceremony were
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 73
popped upon the boys, at random — little ones were left sticking on the very
summits of great round-headed lads, ready to fall oif at the first move — and
great ones dropping over the noses of little ones. Away they went, however,
as happy and picturesque as possiljle. And oh ! the pleasant memories I
have of these excursions ! The moving along green and bowering lanes, past
cottages and cottage gardens ; past groups of villagers all radiant with smiles —
and well they might be ; past great waters, and woods, and gentlemen's
houses, to a common — such a common ! It seems to me that it was bound-
less, and full of all sorts of pleasant and wonderful things. There, at the
lifting of a hand, u shout broke out, like the shout of an army ; and we
dispersed in every direction. There too, when it was time to return — a time
alas ! that pounced upon us sadly too soon ! — a handkerchief hoisted on a
pole, upon some eminence ; a shout raised by a little group, collected with
some difficulty, became the signals of retreat ; and every minute the group
grew and grew, and every moment the shout swelled louder and louder ;
and parties of ' hare and hounds ' came panting up, all warmth and anima-
tion ; and stragglers were seen toiling wearily from far-distant nooks ; till
the last — some embryo poet very likely — roused at the last minute from
some brook-side reverie, arriving we marched homeward."
With this exquisite general description before us, we need not
attempt to describe the joys of tliat morning at Hessle Common,
on the Pontefract Monthly Meeting day. As this was, at the
time now before us, the only occasion in the year when boys
were allowed to break away, when out of their own premises, so
we can imagine that their glee and gladness were proportionately
enhanced. The afternoon of this great holiday was usually
spent in amusements in the play-ground.
On the death of John Donbavand, in the fever of
1824, Henry Brady took his place in the Grammar School.
He had since 1821 conducted a course of classical instruction
to the apprentices with ability and success, and in 1825 it was
arranged by the Committee that he should teach Latin to
twenty of the most advanced scholars. The first class formed
consisted of the following boys : —
Thomas Whiting Thomas Smith Michael Satterthwaite
Edward Bracher John Smith Daniel Wheeler
174 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Thos. Naish' Chas. Wilson Joshua Thwaite
Amos Bigland Richard Dell Stephen Taylor
Henry Taylor Wilson Waterfall William Benson
Robt. Marsh John Kitching Geo. Sharp
Richard King John Cash Nield
The books provided for its use were : —
Valpy's Grammar Selectse veteri Testamento Historise
It Delectus Cornelius Nepos
II Vocabulary Csesar's Commentaries
. 11 Dialogues Virgil
Entick's Dictionary Cicero's Offices
In the Summer "of 1825 the health of Isabella Harris, who
had occupied the office of Governess since 1803, being con-
siderably- shaken by her long service to the Institution, she
intimated to the Committee her wish to retire, and that body
penned the following minute : —
"This Committee learns, with great regret, that our much valued friend
Isabella Harris, who has so long served the Institution as principal Mistress,
apprehends that it may soon be needful from her increasing infirmities, to
resign her important situation ; the membeis of the Committee are requested
to make private enquiry for a suitable friend to fill the office."
Mary Cooper offered to take it temporarily, but in First Month,
1826, Isabella Harris's health had so much improved that she
resolved to remain a while longer. In the spring, however, she
again found it needful to ask to be released, and on the i6th of
Fifth Month left the house, Lydia Palmer, widow of Thomas
Palmer of Leeds, undertaking to fill the post temporarily. But
Isabella Harris did not lose her interest in the school, and once
and again came to its help in its emergencies. When the terrible
fever of 1828 fell upon it, she hastened to give it that personal
assistance which her character was so well calculated to afford
in time of deep trial. In this service she had an admirable
sister-helper in Elizabeth Armstrong, who also voluntarily de-
voted herself to the aid of the distressed Institution. To these
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 175
ladies the Committee felt deeply indebted, acknowledging their
timely and efficient assistance very warmly in their minutes.
The following year, during Robert and Hannah Whitaker's,
absence from home, Isabella Harris kindly supplied the place
of the latter, and again in 1830, when Catherine Naish left the
Governess's post, she filled it for five months prior to Priscilla
Kincey's taking it. Before abandoning her position of
Governess she, had the satisfaction of seeing completed an
arrangement affecting the girls' comfort, which for more than
eight years had been greatly desired by both herself and
Robert Whitaker. This was the laying down in 1825 of two
rows of flags upon the girls green — one running across it from
the centre door of their wing to the "flags" separating the boys
and girls play-grounds, the other branching from it a few feet
from the centre door alluded to, and running parallel with their
wing in the direction of their Colonnade which it finally joined.
Writing of this period or the one immediately preceding it,
for he left Ackworth early in 1825, Thomas Harvey says — " I
can look back with deep interest upon the Superintendent —
Robert Whitaker— and nearly all the teachers. The school
was, I believe, accounted nearly perfect. He would have been
a bold man who would have hinted that there was much that
was defective.'' Yet "memory rests'' says Thomas Harvey "on
a.rrangements that were in some respects Spartan.'' Without
especially mentioning these, he refers to the fact that there was
no difference, so far as he remembers, between the clothing in
winter and summer, that from absence of holidays he did not
see his home for more than three years, that no towels were
provided at the bath to which the boys always'went before six
o'clock in the morning, and that the dietary was unsatisfactory
from a deficiency of good nourishing food at dinner. He adds
with reference to the diet — " its redeeming feature was the
excellence of the hot mild porridge breakfast, and the cold milk
with bread at supper." But he thinks that the prevalence of
176 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Bronch'ocele amongst the children was probably due to the de-
fective provision for the mid-day meal. Many years after this,
it was the fashion to attribute that disorder to the water used,
but this was probably speculation. Thomas Harvey considers
that the " teaching was careful and thorough," and that " the
scriptures were carefully taught." Although he characterises
the discipline as severe and perhaps lacking discrimination in
degrees of blameworthiness, and speaks of flogging as a " de-
grading punishment" whose "stigma was most injurious," he
attributes such defects to the times, and not to the men, con-
cluding with the following interesting testimony to the. worth of
the latter. — " I look back with respect and love upon the
superintendent and teachers. They were able, wise and good
men ; they were probably in advance of their time. They were
thoroughly in earnest in their desire to give the boys the best
education and training in their power, and to make Ackworth
fulfil the intention of its founders."
It is a matter of much regret that so little of written history
pertains to the girls' department, and we gladly avail ourselves,
at this point, of a few notes with which we have been kindly
favoured, from the pen of a lady* who was a scholar at Ack-
worth from 1825 to 1829. They refer more particularly to that
grand festival of the year in those olden times — the General
Meeting — as seen from a girl's point of view. After noting the
eager anticipation of rare enjoyment with which the prospect of
the occasion was wont to fill all hearts for weeks previous to it,
the writer of these notes describes the general excitement of
her school-fellows on the afternoon of the day preceding the
General Meeting : —
"In the summer of 1825 I found myself for the first time amidst this
scene of interest and excitement, entering into it heartily, and looking out
for the appearance on the green of friends either known or unknown. From
*Rebeccfi Thursfield of Evesham.
HISTORY OF ACICWORTH SCHOOL 177
time to time, as the day wore on, messenger after messenger arrived sum-
moning one girl or another to some friend who enquired for her. These
were the privileged ones, whom some of the others regarded, perhaps, with
a pardonable measure of envy. But tliere was OTie arrival anticipated, in
which all appeared to share with almost equal interest : and when it was
announced that Joseph John Gurney had reached the school, the girls
gathered with one accord upon the Green to receive him, clustering round
him like a swarm of bees.
' ' To this day I have not lost the impression of delight with which we
received his courteous and most kindly greetings. After the salutations and a
few questions, followed the request that we would repeat a hymn. Surely
it must have stirred that kind, yearning heart to its depths to have heard
that chorus of young voices repeating his own stanzas beginning : —
How blessed is the child of the Lord,
When taught, by the Father to run ;
When led by the light of His word.
And cheered by the beams of His sun.
"The Scriptural Examination he was to conduct was looked forward to as
among the chief interests of the General Meeting.
"Amongst the 'officers' told off for various little services during the oc-
casion, two of the older girls had been deputed to have cjiarge of the tables
placed on the Green with a small display of fancy work for sale — the
occupation of girls in play-hours. Conspicuous among this were the
pincushions knit in two colours, either of silk or crewel, some having the
words ' From Ackworth School ' knit into one side.
' ' Third-day evening passed amid a variety of preparation for the much-
thought-of morrow. We rose that morning later than usual, as there was no
school before breakfast. There were no devotional or other meetings in
those days in the early morning ; no gathering of First-day-school teachers,
for as yet such schools were unknown in the Society. But at- ten o'clock the
girls began to file out of the play-room, where they had collected, across
the Green to the meeting house — then occupying the end portion of the
opposite wing. They were dressed in their usual dark stuff frocks, with
white muslin caps and tippets, the short sleeves of the frocks being supple-
mented by long mittens, as covering for the arms and hands. We had to
sit closer than usual on our backless forms to make room for the large influx
of visitors ; and, then, when all were assembled, the usual solemn silence of
1 78 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
a Friends' Meeting gathered over the worshipping company, and much of
earnest prayer and preaching doubtless followed, which my memory has
failed to retain.
"In the remembrance of the General Meeting of 1826, the figure of
Thomas Shillitoe stands out conspicuously as he appeared in the gallery of
the Meeting House in his simple drab costume and unburdened with a
cravat."
Many of the general arrangements of these annual gatherings
of the fifth decade being very similar to those of the present
day are briefly passed over in these notes. Referring to some
of the general features of the time the writer of them says : —
" How strange it seems, in these days of railways and of penny postage,
to recall the infrequency of visits from near relations, and the rarity of
receiving letters from home. I remember, after having been three or four
months at school, being seriously reproved for having said I had had either
a letter or a parcel every time a certain teacher had been on duty, which was
once in four weeks : it was thought » thing incredible that I should have
been so favoured beyond the most — for alas ! some poor children heard very
little from their distant homes. A letter from my home, by post, cost
elevenpence by the time it reached the school. Only four times in the year
had we the liberty to write a letter, and that was a careful school production
revised and corrected into due form and order. Sometimes, in order to saVe
postage, two girls residing in the same town wrote on one sheet of post
paper — the prescribed quantity, in those days, for one postage.
" In 1825, one-fourth of the girls — those sitting at the First Table in the
dining-room — wore small thick mushn caps. All had their hair cut short
and just parted on the forehead. Before I left, in 1829, the caps had almost
disappeared. Only a] few of the biggest girls continued to wear them,
except that the parlour waiters were always expected to appear in them,
Hannah Whitaker having a decided preference for that form of head-gear.
They were still retained for going to meeting in, during the summer, I be-
lieve ; while Friend's-bonnets and long cloth cloaks formed the winter
costume on these occasions. A variety of beaver and straw bonnets, &c., did
service when we went all together for our monthly walk in procession.''
A proposition was made at the General Meeting of 1826,
that those children who were intended to remain at school for
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 79
three years should be allowed to visit their parents during that
term. The Meeting entered into the question with interest,
and it was referred to the Committee for their consideration.
That body voted it in the following autumn, "quite inexpedient"
and no further effort was made in that direction until 1835,
when Edward Latchmore, having been three years at Ackworth
and being likely to remain two years more, was allowed, ap-
parently without much discussion or diversity of opinion in the
Committee, to go home for a few weeks at the request of his
father.
An indication of the development of a desire on the part of
the masters for more opportunity of cultivating the tastes of the
boys in English literature may be found in an application made
by them to the Committee for the following works, "as oc-
casional reading books in the school,"— Young's "Night
Thoughts," two copies; Thomson's "Seasons," two copies;
Cowper's Poems, two copies ; " The Wreath," two copies ;
Gurney's Hymns, six copies ; and " Evenings at Home," eleven
copies. These were all granted by the Autumn Committee of
.1826. The Committee was thoroughly , alive to the spirit of
enquiry abroad amongst the masters and in the school at large,
and made frequent additions to the library. The requirements
of the children received much consideration, instigated doubt-
less by the representations of the teachers. Since the foundation
of the general library, the children had been permitted, to
some extent, to participate in its advantages, but its remoteness
from their own rooms militated against their free acquaintance
with its contents and, in 1828, it was resolved to facilitate their
access to books, by making a selection of such as were more
especially adapted to their tastes and years, and removing them
to the school-rooms. Some of these were transferred to the
West Wing for the use of the girls, whilst those set apart for the
boys were divided into four sets, one of which was placed in
each of the four large school-rooms, under the care of its
N 2
ISO HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
respective master, and for the exclusive use, for the time being, of
the boys in his class. But in order to afford as large a range of
reading as possible, it was arranged that these sectional libraries
should rotate through the schools, the changes being made every
quarter, by which scheme every book was sometime during the
year accessible to every boy. This system remained in opera-
tion for upwards of twenty years, when Henry Wilson, being
then master-on-duty, suggested and carried out the amalgamation
of these various libraries, the working of which, as a lever for
raising the tone of reading amongst the boys, he most success-
fully superintended in person so long as he remained at
Ackworth.
Whilst the intellectual needs of the children were accom-
modated by these extended resources, their personal comfort
was not neglected. Previously to 1826 the boys performed
their ablutions in common in a long trough filled with water,
but, that year, the primitive and semi-barbarous utensil dis-
appeared in favour of copper bowls, which each boy could
replenish for himself Two years after this improvement was
introduced, the forms in the Meeting House were supplied with
backs, and, the year following, that room, which was flagged
like all the rest in that wing of the establishment, and which,
in spite of the hot-air flues introduced in 1820, was far from
comfortable in cold weather, was furnished with a boarded
floor. In the same year — 1829 — the Committee discussed the
desirability of supplying some of the boys with single beds
and shortly afterwards they were procured for twenty-seven of
the oldest boys and placed in bed-room No. i. It is an inci-
dent indicative of the simplicity of early days that, prior to
1829, the turret-clock had no minute-hand, and it must have
been no little pleasure to the boys, who witnessed its appear-
ance, to be able when at play to do something more than make
a rough guess at the time. The next year witnessed one of
those changes which mark epochs. A suggestion had been
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 01
introduced into the deliberations of the Committee early in
1830, though from what quarter it came is not said, that the
old wooden trencher was becoming an antiquated utensil and
that it would be productive of cleanliness at least, if it were
superseded by plates. But the Committee did not see the
desirability of a change and made a minute to that effect.
The voice of public opinion, however, found utterance in the
ensuing General Meeting in a form not to be resisted and the
old trencher was abandoned. In 1832, after the great fevers,
the boys were supplied with night-shirts, which the Committee
ordered to be washed fortnightly and, at the same time, " flannel
waistcoats" were introduced for the boys' winter wear. The
resort to the use of the latter article shews that a bitter ex-
perience had opened the eyes of the Committee to the
necessity of warmer clothing in the more inclement seasons
and, from this cause also, no doubt, followed the introduction
of caps, in place of hats, which might be worn on the play-
ground, at any time, at the discretion of Robert Whitaker.
The caps were ordered to be of " dark-brown worsted," and
must have given a smarter appearance to the boys than the
motley head-dresses inherited from antiquity, for they called
down the censure of Thomas Shillitoe, whose spirit was
wounded by what he thought their "too military appearance."
These caps would appear to have been favourite articles of
apparel with the boys, [for an early minute of the Committee
forbids their general every day use, issuing an order that they
should only be worn " on such occasions as hats had hitherto
been." Late as some of these improvements may, to our
readers, seem to have been in making their appearance,
another, which had its origin with night-shirts and flannel-
vests, will probably still more astonish them, not by its advent
but by its previous absence. No lavatory provision appears to
have existed for use during the day. In 1832 we find the
Committee giving orders " to make accommodation for the
boys to wash themselves occasionally, which it appears may be
102 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
conveniently accomplished in ['the narrow passage leading to
the shed court."
But we are digressing and must return to observe the con-
tinued satisfaction which the Committee received from their
frequent investigation into the state of the religious instruction,
which had now evidently become the first subject in their
interest and affections, and which was so admirably conducted
as to be a constant source of pleasure and gratification to
them. It would be tedious to repeat, in this little narrative,
all their reports on the subject, but one quotation, showing how
far the Committee looked for, and believed they found, practi-
cal fruit from this instruction in the daily life of the boys,
may be of interest. After speaking with great satisfaction
of the admirable manner of teaching the subject, one of the
reports of 1827 concludes thus : —
"The importance of these instructions, under the divine blessing, is
strikingly evinced by the reports in regard to the boys' conduct, and by the
state of mind which, from our intercourse with them, we believe generally
prevails."
We believe that all testimony bears out the view here ex-
pressed, and, if we sought only to leave a pleasant picture, it
would perhaps be wise to observe the reticence which the
Committee practices in reference to that darker side, which at
almost all times, in so large a school, must exist somewhere.
But a truthful attempt to delineate the times cannot wholly
ignore the fact, that even in this very satisfactory period — and
such the fifth decade undoubtedly was — the teachers did not
repose on a bed of roses, the boys did not live in an elysium
into which no temptation might enter, no dark spirit spread its
snares, no evil passion lurk. The school was a little world,
not unlike the greater one outside, constituted of good and
evil elements. Happily the former appear to have predominated
at the time of which we now write and, whilst many troublesome
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 83
faults cropped up from time to time in individuals or sections
of the school, the mass appears to have remained sound —
sounder probably from the fact that evil was visibly present,
warning, like a beacon, from the shelving rocks of disorder, or,
peradventure, sometimes |^of sin. Phases of conduct, like
diseases, are to a certain extent epidemic. They vary in form
and character as much as the fevers and agues that affect
the physical man. Troublesome practices crop up and
pass away. At one time disobedience to monitors prevailed, at
another, disorder in the dining-room. A rage for pillow-fights,
succeeded one for filling boys' beds with nettles. Stealing fruit
from the attractive trees in the adjacent garden disturbed one
autumn — purloining carrots from the farm, another. More
grievous evils sometimes reared their heads and were not easily
eradicated. Referring to the present period we should say in
general terms that falsehood was the predominant evil from
182 1 to 1825, not unaccompanied by impertinence towards the
younger apprentices and monitors, and habits of passionate
outburst. It is reasonable to suppose that all this was confined
within a tolerably limited circle, but the first-mentioned offence
gave much trouble in a few instances : some boys were guilty
of it again and again. One boy was so inveterate a liar that,
after he had been flogged, and imprisoned in the Light and Airy
Rooms, he remained as bad as ever. He was then punished by
the following singular device : — for several days he stood at the
head of the dining-room, whilst the boys were at dinner, with a
badge on his back, bearing in huge black letters the word
" Liar,'' visible to all in the room. We fear this did not cure
him, but it may have deterred others. From 1826 to 1828 the
caprice was love-making, and in 1829 the war-fever and much
fighting, both tolerable diseases compared with that which pre-
ceded, but each gave its own uneasiness to the masters, and the
former no doubt to the mistresses. The martial fever assumed
considerable proportions. The Wars of the Roses became a
favourite historic episode, leading sometimes to great excitement
184 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
and some very hearty conflict. It was accompanied by a passion
for collecting warlike passages of poetry and ballads that fired
the blood. The masters laboured earnestly to lay this spirit by
excellent advice, but it ran through its little day. One Stephen
Jenkins could not lay aside his valour or his ardour even on
First Day, and for thus unseasonably " reciting a warlike song
to two of his school-fellows, he was ordered to be closely con-
fined for one day, with a suitable task." To these somewhat
heroic passions there succeeded that of pilfering, but this was
undoubtedly confined to a very small number.
But if there were at all times evil occurrent, there was cer-
tainly very much more of good predominant. Intellectually
there was much activity. We have seen how brilliantly the
"Association for the Improvement of the Mind" commenced
its operations, and it may be well now to glance at its subsequent
action, so far as the present period is concerned. The boys
continued their loyalty to this society in a manner almost
remarkable. The selected essays give evidence that a vigorous
vitality was maintained in composition amongst the boys ; and
the continuation of the " Gazette" for some years, and that of
"The Censor" down to 1827, shew no abatement of the first
zeal of the masters. In 1825 a new medium of intercom-
munication of ideas was established, called the " Mutual
Correspondent," which, as its name suggests, consisted ' of
communications in the form- of letters, most of which were
probably written by boys, whilst "The Budget" consisted of a
collection of essays by the masters chiefly. Many of these
latter are in the form of dialogue— a style much in vogue then
at Ackworth. The greater number of these essays was by
Henry Brady and Thomas Brown, but Henry Hawley, John
Broadhead, John Newby, and others contributed. The collec-
tion is not large, and is comprised in one MS. volume. In
1829 — 1831 a series of playful articles appeared under the
title of the " Camera Obscura" — chiefly consisting of reflections
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 85
of a lively character upon the Association and its members, and
their doings, and written by the youthful members and one of
the seniors, who had assumed the nom de plume of " Camera
Obscura." Of the selected essays of the period the authors
are very numerous, but it may not be out of place to mention
that amongst them occurs the name of William Allen Miller,
Professor in King's College, London, V.P.R.S., and author of
the well-known work on Chemistry, which, when published and
for long afterwards, was recognised as the best in the English
language. He wrote on many themes in the time of his boy-
hood and, amongst his essays, his love for the crucible already
crops out In 1829, Thomas Hunton already began to shew
promise of an elegant and poHshed style; and, in 1830, Thomas
Hattersley was a copious contributor of clever essays.
Whilst the members of the association monopolized the chief
direct advantages of the literary life of which it was the exponent,
the boys at large were kept alive to some of the great social
questions — such as the Slave Trade, and the fearful prevalent
distress of years like 1826 — by public meetings of the wliole
School.
CHAPTER X.
MALIGNANT FEVER — DEATH OF HENRY BRADY — UNSETTLED
STATE OF THE GIRLS' WING — PRISCILLA KINCEY — ALTERA-
TION IN THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE GIRLS — REPORT ON A
SPECIAL EXAMINATION OF BOYS LEAVING SCHOOL — COM-
MITTEE'S SOLICITUDE ABOUT BOOKS — NEW BED-ROOM FOR
GIRLS — FEVER AGAIN — RAWDON SCHOOL — DEATH OF HANNAH
WHITAKER — ILLNESS AND RETIREMENT OF ROBERT WHITAKER
— JAMES ARTHINGTON — JOHN BROADHEAD — NEW ARRANGE-
MENTS — CLASS CHANGES — " MASTER-ON-DUTY."
In the Spring of 1828 a malignant fever broke out in the
School ; the cases were not numerous, however, until the end
of the Seventh Month. The Committee then had a conference
with their medical officers, and every effort was made to stem
the progress of the disease, but it spread with such rapidity and'
became so virulent in type, that Robert Whitaker called a special
Committee for Eighth Month 25 th, to consider the state of the
family, to which Committee he presented the following Report : —
"STATE OF THE FAMILY AT ACKWORTH SCHOOL 25th of
8th Mo. 1828.
" 8 Boys in the nurseries, 4 of these convalescent.
"13 ,1 II 3rd chamber, confined to bed for the most part, but only 3
very poorly.
"26 II under nursing care, up in the day time.
"27 11 passed through the complaint, and are restored.
"8 Girls in the nurseries, 2 convalescent.
"14 II 11 a lodging room in the Wing, butonly 3 very poorly, and two or
three of these sometimes sit up in the day for a little while.
"13 11 under nursing care, up in the day time.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 87
" 47 Girls have passed through the complaint, and are restored.
" Two cases of girls at present appear dangerous.
" The nurse and one of the chamber-maids are confined to bed at present.
" The cow-keeper and houseman are indisposed, but not confined to their
beds.
" Several of the boys' apprentices have had the complaint, and one of them
is now confined to his bed. In the girls' wing Maria Bleckly, the
Writing Mistress, is also confined to her bed. Several of the female
apprentices have passed through the complaint with but little suffering.
" The patient who has been the longest on the sick list now is Hannah
Barritt, who was confined to her bed on the 12th of 7th Month. She is
nearly well.
' ' Several have been recently confined to bed, but they have been sometime
slightly indisposed previously."
Having received this Report, the Committee called in the-
two medical men in attendance, and elicited from them the
following facts and observations : —
" 1st. That there are at present only two cases of fever which they consider
urgent, viz. -. those of Mary Dumbleton, the nurse, and a girl named
Clemesha.
" 2nd. That they consider the existing disorder to be an inflammatory fever,
and, in- two of the cases which have occurred, attended with typhus
symptoms.
" 3rd. That it is infectious, and may be communicated by contact.
"4th. That it is confined to the School, and does not exist in other parts
of the village, as far as has come within the knowledge of the medical
officers.
"5th. Supposed to have arisen in the first instance from the peculiar state of
the atmosphere.
" 6th. No fresh cases have arisen within the past week.
" 7th. Only two cases of relapse have occurred.
" 8th. The fumigation seems to be effective and complete.
" 9th. The medical officers or one of them attend twice each day, and they
consider the cases receive the necessary medical attention.
" lOth. The clothes of the children who have been ill are fumigated pre-
viosly to the children going into the Schools.
" nth. No danger of the attendants on the sick conveying the disease to the
healthy children.
" 1 2th. Fever similar to that now existing in the School may be produced
[88 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
by the exhalations from stagnant waters, and frequently arises from
obstructed perspiration.
" 13th. Not imprudent to allow the children who are well, and whose time
has expired to leave the School.
" 14th. Not expedient to admit into the School any more children at present.
" 15th. No danger from the present mode of washing the linen, &c., of the
invalids, but recommend that it be brought from the chambers immersed
in cold water.
" i6th. No occasion to break up the School by sending home the healthy
children ; and it is the opinion of the medical officers that there is a fair
probability of the disorder being subdued without further extension ; and
that the general state of the family is improving."
Robert Whitaker was empowered to obtain all additional
nurses he might require, and to call in Dr. Thorp, of Leeds, to
consider the state of things, in connection with the medical
officers attached to the staff. The Committee was informed at
this time that on the 29th of the previous month a girl had died
from apoplexy, supposed to have been produced by tumour in
the neck, and that Hannah Farrer, of Kendal, a girl of fourteen,
had died of the prevalent fever.
On the sth of Ninth Month another special Committee was
called, to receive the report of the medical conference and that
of the state of the family. Dr. Thorp having been from home, .
Dr. WilUamson, of Leeds, had paid three visits to the School.
The joint report of himself and the School doctors was encou-
raging as regarded the prospects of the fever, but gave no definite
or satisfactory opinion as to the origin or cause of it Robert
Whitaker's carefully prepared report of the progress of the dis-
order since the previous meeting — eleven days before — shows
that sixteen fresh cases had appeared and that the nurse,
Mary Dumbleton, and two children had died in the interval.
From his report we gather that, up to date, one hundred and
four children had passed through the complaint and been
restored to health, but that there still remained sixty-four cases
under care, amongst which were Hannah Whitaker, Henry
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 189
Brady, Mary Bleckly, and two apprentices. The Committee,
on that occasion, issued a circular to parents, in which they
described the course of the fever's progress from the first, stating
that for some time after its appearance the number of cases was
very small, that in the middle of the Seventh Month they were
but six, and that the character of the disorder was then very
uncertain, that in the following month it had spread so rapidly
that in the middle of it there were eighty cases. This document
was perhaps more than explanatory — it was probably apologetic.
Not being able to ascertain the exact character of the disorder
before the gathering of the annual General Meeting, and hoping,
no doubt, that it was non-infectious, the Committee permitted
that gathering to take place, and several, some reports say
many, of the Friends who were present at it took the disorder
home, and some deaths ensued. At the end of the Tenth
Month the fever was dying out, but there were still five cases,
and before the School was entirely free a hundred and eighty-
three' of its inmates had suffered from it.
This terrible visit of disease and death was rendered still more
melancholy by its robbing the School of one of its masters, who
had adorned his station with almost every quality that could
mark the perfect teacher. After a lapse of fifty years his name
still lingers in the annals of the School as one of its fairest
possessions. Henry Brady, having passed through the ordinary
stages of the fever, so far recovered as to walk out in the sun,
on the arm of his young wife, but suffering a relapse, he died
on the 9th of Tenth Month, 1828.
In writing to Thomas Hodgson, of Lancaster, two years and
a half after the death of Henry Brady, his bosom friend Thomas
Brown says, —
" Those alone who had the privilege of his intimate acquaintance can be
aware to its full extent of the loss experienced by this institution in his
lamented and (as far as it was ready to appear to the erring judgment of his
I go HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
endeared friends) untimely removal. He was indeed, as Ihou observes, a
bright example of conscientiousness in the discharge of his various important
duties. Indeed among the many excellencies of his character this certainly
shone conspicuous. The continued friendship through a course of years of
such an individual, highly gifted as he was too with intellectual endowments,
ought certainly to be ranked among the most valuable of earthly blessings.
We shall regard his memory here with mingled feelings of esteem and
affection."
The Committee, on being informed of his death, expressed
its sorrow in an appropriate minute, and the .adjourned General
Meeting, held in London in 1829, also noticed his death in their
report, as follows : —
" Henry Brady was brought up in the institution from a scholar. He was
attached from choice to the profession of a schoolmaster, and had used extra-
ordinary assiduity in qualifying himself for the employment. His mind also
having become deeply impressed with religious principles, and his conduct
evidently regulated by them, the Committee were glad to retain him in the
service of the institution, to which he was sincerely attached. As he grew
in years, his various qualifications as an instructor of youth became still
more conspicuous. His talent for communicating knowledge was great ; and
his patient and affectionate conduct towards children, united as it was with
superior mental endowments, gained for him, in a remarkable manner, their
love and respect, and had also a very beneficial influence on the younger
teachers. It may, we believe, be safely said that the religious welfare of the
children was the subject nearest his heart. In the inculcation of Scripture
knowledge, with which his own mind was deeply imbued, he was peculiarly
serviceable, and there is reason to hope that the seed thus sown in many
youthful minds will spring up and bear valuable fruit."
A lady, whose notes we have before quoted, and who was a
scholar at the time of this visitation of fever, describing the
melancholy aspect of the time, says : —
' ' As one after another sickened, the nurseries became filled to overflowing,
and one of the boys' chambers, and one also of the girls' bed-rooms, were
filled with the prostrated ones. As I was spared in comparative health
through most of the time of greatest trial, I was in and out as office-bearer,
both in the Wing and Centre. As ' Superintendent's Waiter,' I remember
witnessing the distress of Robert Whitaker, as his overwhelming cares and
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 191
responsibilities pressed heavily upon him and upon his true-hearted, competent
wife. The strength of the latter at length gave way, and for a little while
she was confined to her chamber. There were doctors and nurses from
Leeds, and Luke Howard most kindly rendered assistance in the ' Apothe-
cary's shop' in dispensing medicne, requiring thereby, from one of the Leeds
nurses, the designation of ' the old I'otecary.' Maria Bella Howard's cook,
was continually busy, preparing delicacies suited for the invalids, which
were sent from the 'Villa' morning by morning."
During the long superintendency of the Girls' department by
Isabella Harris, the Committee's reports of that section of the
School were always eminently satisfactory ; but for some years
after the retirement of that Friend, there was considerable change
and unsettlement in connection with the office of governess,
and these produced their usual results. In 1830, we find the
Examiners' report couched in language so cautious as to leave
no room for doubt that dissatisfaction with the state of things
generally had sprung up. PrisciUa Kincey had occupied the
office of governess for about half-a-year and had probably not
yet mastered its duties. The report is very brief, but, under its
curt phrases, lies a note of condemnation. The conduct of the
girls is said to be " pretty orderly with some exceptions ;" the
improvement in their studies is described as " rather less than
heretofore ;'' and with the Scriptures they were thought to be
" pretty well acquainted." These phrases are in striking contrast
with many of the glowing eulogies of a former day. The pre-
vious General Meeting had suggested the introduction of the
Monitorial System on that side of the house; and the Committee
now made the necessary arrangements for the change and
placed this preparatory department, comprising about thirty girls,
under the charge of Sarah Ann Squire. In addition to this
radical change, this Committee made some suggestions
and proposals for "alterations in the mode of instruction''
amongst the upper classes of the girls, but postponed the final
adoption of them to their next half-yearly meeting. These
proposals, combined with the low character of the report, greatly
1 92 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
disturbed the stafif of mistresses and, before the Committee could
meet, three of them resigned their posts. The Committee pro-
ceeded with its reorganization scheme. It distributed all the
girls above the stage of the monitorial department into two
schools, called Reading Schools, which were to be, in every
respect, on a par. After leaving the monitorial room, each girl
was to be drafted into one of these, and was to belong to it during
the rest of her stay at Ackworth. In these rooms were taught
reading, spelling, grammar, geography, , sewing and knitting.
Writing, arithmetic, mental calculation and tables were taught
to all these girls, in alternate sections, during certain hours every
day, in a third room, called the Writing School, which was
under a mistress who devoted herself entirely to instruction in
these subjects. The change worked well : the tone of the girls
improved. In the Spring of 1832 the Committee, after penning
an excellent report of the girls' schools, concluded its observa-
tions by saying — " It has been gratifying to observe the kind and
affectionate attention of the principal mistress (Priscilla Kincey)
to those under her care."
Into the half-yearly examination of the boys, held in the
Spring of 1831, a new element was introduced. After the
School had been examined in the usual way, the boys who
vs^ere likely to leave the School within six months were ex-
amined together, and the report of this special investigation
was as follows : — " The result appears to us very favourable
as to the state of the School : the boys may all of them be
said to be respectably prepared for trading situations and about
one-third of them are fitted for any engagements for which
the attainments to be acquired at Ackworth can be expected
to prepare them." At another examination of this year the
Committee remarked upon the " kind manner of the masters
in their intercourse with the, boys," and did not fail to note the
reciprocity of this feeling in the latter, in " their frank and
open deportment towards their teachers." At this time a
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 93
considerable addition was made to the reading books in use.
Four new works were adopted — Butter's " Gradations
in Reading and Spelling," Ingram Cobbins' " Instructive
Reader," " The National School Collection," compiled for the
Edinboro' Sessional School, and " Instructive Extracts," pre-
pared for the same purpose. But, ever mindful of the need
for watchfulness over what was placed, by their sanction, before
the children, the members of the Committee resolved to
eliminate certain articles from the latter two works, before
bringing the books into use. From the " National School
Collection'' they removed pp. log, 115 and 1 1 7, and from the
"Instructive Extracts'' pp. 191, 286, 306, 313,314 and 315,
substituting for the omitted pages others considered more
suitable and printing new tables of contents to the two works.
. The Girls' lodging-rooms had frequently been complained
of as very close and, in i83r, a room was erected over the
girls' lavatory about twenty-two feet square, into which eight
beds were transferred. This was an improvement so far as it
went, but it is a source of no little wonder how a hundred and
twenty girls and their teachers could have had their health
within the limited bed-room accommodation of that day, when
the rooms were four or five feet lower than now, and none of
the ample extensions of recent times had been dreamed of.
In the autumn of this year. Fever again broke out in the
School. A case of an " eruptive " nature had occurred in
the previous year, but the disorder did not then spread. This
year, on the contrary, its progress was exceedingly rapid.
Within about a fortnight of its appearance, it had prostrated
seventy-eight children, forty-seven boys and thirty-one girls.
To a special Committee then summoned, Dr. Overend, of
Doncaster, Dr. Hobson, of Leeds, and Messrs. Oxley and
Muscroft, of Pontefract, presented a report, describing the
disorder as " Common Fever," accompanied in two cases by
194 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
typhoid symptoms, and as infectious. Ten days subsequently,
there had been a hundred and twenty cases, one of which had
terminated fatally, but the medical men then stated their
belief that the fever was " got under," the type of the more
recent cases having been milder. This was unfortunately a
miscalculation. . A fortnight later, Robert Whitaker had to
report that the fever had assumed a much more malignant phase,
that there had been fifty-five fresh cases, and that a girl had
died that morning. On the 30th of Twelfth Month, however,
the medical men were able to report to a special Committee
that " the cases were all assuming a most favourable aspect."
Those gentlemen, at the same time, presented the following
communication to the Committee : —
" It is our opinion that this fever did not arise from local causes. It
is the opinion of Dr. Hobson that the diet is sufficient. It is the opinion
of Dr. Overend and Messrs. Muscroft and Oxley that an increase of
animal food would be desirable.
R. HOBSON, M.D.
JOHN OVEREND, M.D.
J. MUSCROFT, Surgeon.
Aekworth, Dec. loth, 1831. R. OXLEY,
They further informed the Committee that, whilst approving
the warming of the school-rooms by steam, they thought the
addition of fires in the rooins desirable for assisting the
ventilation. They also recommended attention to some of the
drains, &c. The recommendations of the medical men were
adopted.
The fever had attacked no fewer than two hundred and
three inmates before the Committee was informed, on the 30th
of First Month, 1832, that there was then but a single case. Of
these, two girls and one boy had died. At that date there
were but 239 children in the School, although when the fever
broke out there were 299. In the following month, the
number ran down to 233. In the Fourth Month there were
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 95
again 256 in the School; but Friends throughout the country-
had been so seriously alarmed by the return of the terrible
scourge that there were but 13 boys and 14 girls on the list
for admission — an extremely small number for that period.
The improvement both in the quality and quantity of the
meat diet in consequence of the above recommendation, was,
according to the testimony of Friends who were scholars at the
time, not only required but much appreciated. In connection
with this melancholy occasion of sickness, Thomas Hunton,
who was a scholar at the time, relates a very characteristic
anecdote of Luke Howard, F.R.S., who then lived in Ackworth
and was ever a devoted friend to the School, and who, with
his benevolent wife, was always active with his aid in times
of illness.
"I recollect," says Thomas Hunton, "on one occasion, Luke Howard,
with his characteristic disregard of conventionalities, breaking up the week-
day meeting after about half-an-hour, remarking, much in unison with our
feelings, that, under the present circumstances he thought the children
ought to have short meetings and a more generous diet. The mixture was
a curious one and nevertheless judicious, and, in its effects, somewhat
contrasted with an address delivered by a Friend from a distance. He
came into the dining-room in the midst of our tea, and we were asked to
suspend operations, while he began by saying that the fever was infectious,
and that most likely some of us would die of it. It was a discouraging
address, however well intentioned, and it was gloomy enough, without it,
to find our school-fellows, day by day, removed from our classes, some of
them never to return."
In the spring of 1832, the school at Rawden was opened for
the children of persons connected with the Society of Friends
but not in membership with it, and Ackworth supplied its first
master. The Commitee of Rawden School applied to that of
Ackworth for the temporary assistance of the master of the
Monitorial School in the organization of their new Institution.
This request was acceded to and the arrangement terminated
in Henry Hawley's permanent engagement at Rawden.
o 2
ig6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
The year 1832 is remembered in the North of England for
the prevalence of " spasmodic cholera." The Committee did
not like to omit the General Meeting altogether, in consequence
of it, but it issued a circular advising that the attendance should
be very limited. The much dreaded disease happily did not
enter the School, but it was nevertheless destined to affect its
interests in a melancholy manner. In the summer of 1833, at
the solicitation of the Committee, Robert and Hannah
Whitaker were induced to leave home for the purpose of taking
a few weeks' relaxation. Accompanied by their daughter and
their friend Elizabeth Armstrong, they set out for Wales, pass-
ing rapidly through Manchester, where Cholera was then rife,
on their way. On reaching Welshpool, Hannah Whitaker was
smitten down by the prevalent disease and died on the 4th of
Ninth Month. The event was acknowledged by all as a
calamity, not only to her husband and daughter, but to the
Institution to whose wide and varied interests she had devoted
her life. The sense of the general loss will be best appreciated
by the simple yet emphatic minute of the Autumn Committee : —
" The Committee has had under its consideration the loss which
the Institution has sustained in the removal of our much
valued friend Hannah Whitaker. We think it right to record
our sense of her long and faithful services to this Institution.
In her various situations she was distinguished by her diligence
and ability ; but in the important one she occupied at the time
of her decease, she was not only the careful guardian of the
Institution's domestic affairs and the judicious director of the
subordinate departments, but her truly Christian example and
counsel diffused their influence over the whole family, by the
various members of which she was looked up to as a mother.''
Previously much run down by too close application to the
interests and multifarious cares of the School, Robert Whitaker
was ill prepared for this sudden domestic disaster. The blow
crushed and prostrated him. He was compelled to take the
rest he had so long refused and which had now so little power to
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 97
heal. Concluding that his day of active service was over, he
penned the following letter to the Committee resigning the
office of Superintendent which he had now occupied, within a
few weeks, for thirty years.
" Dear Friends,
As I have not for several months been able to perform the duties
pertaining to the office of Superintendent in the School and as there is not
any ground to hope that my health and strength will be restored, it appears
incumbent on me to retire from the station ; and I hereby resign my charge,
wishing to be humbly thankful to my Almighty Benefactor for his long-
continued protection and loving kindness.
"In thus giving up the care of the Flock, I feel deep regret, under a
consciousness that I have done veiy little to promote the true interests of the
School. But I trust that another Friend will soon be found for the important
station, much better qualified to conduct its general concerns and to forward
the religious and guarded education of the children.
' ' In taking leave of those with whom I have been long associated, I am
desirous to express my gratitude to the two Committees and to the Treasurer
for their uniform kindness to me and for their cordial co-operation with me
in my feeble efforts to serve the Institution.
I remain your much obliged and affectionate friend,
ROBT. WHITAKER."
Exthorp, 7th of 7th Month, 1834.
The following Adjourned General Meeting held in London
expressed its appreciation of Robert Whitaker's labours in their
Institution by the following minute : —
"We deeply regret the occasion of our dear friend's relinquishing an
office which he has acceptably filled for nearly thirty years, and desire to
record our sense of the valuable services which he has rendered to this
Institution both by his conscientious attention to the economy of its funds
and especially Ijy his paternal care over the Family, his watchful endeavours
by example and counsel to maintain its harmony, and his study to promote
the comfort and improvement of the Children and their moral and religious
welfare. "
From the foregoing narrative it will not have escaped the
reader's notice that Robert Whitaker was alike eminent for
igS HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
his self-denying nature and for his extraordinary activity in
administering to the welfare of his charge. Nor were the
operations of his vigilant mind bounded by the immediate
circle of the intellectual, religious and physical demands of his
young people. Everything connected with the Institution was
full of interest to him and received his close attention. Not
only did he take great pleasure in the cattle, but the very trees
upon the estate received almost loving care from him. He
studied the diseases of the former and the habits and the
culture of the latter as thoroughly as if they had been the
chief business of his life. Every year he went round the
Estate with the carpenter in order to direct what trees should
be pruned or felled ; and he annually superintended the cutting
and renewal of the fences.
He always attended the market at Pontefract that he might
choose his own particular quality of wheat, which was then
usually ground at the wind-mill in High Ackworth. The table was
generally supplied with beef from small Scotch cattle, purchased
from herds passing on their way to London by the great North
Road, upon which it was Robert Whitaker's custom to meet
them at Wentbridge. On these occasions he was usually accom-
panied, for many years, by James Harrison and Robert Graham,
the farm steward. The former Friend, who has been described
as a " rustic genius and natural wit,'' and whose facetae were
quoted long after his death, was long remembered for his
shrewd intelligence and his deep interest in the School. An-
other Friend, to whom Robert Whitaker ever acknowledged his
indebtedness in connection with the farm, was James Arthington,
a member of the Committee, who for many years regularly ap-
peared at the School with his horse, as hay-time approached,
and took up his abode there until every field had been housed
— a period, often, of six weeks. Old scholars remember his
visits with interest, and especially the favoured individuals who
were each year told off to take the charge of his horse, upon
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 99
which, as a reward for his services, the favourite of the year
always had the pleasure of riding to the field behind its owner.
Amongst the members of a Committee, so many of whom
were ardently devoted to the interests of the School, it would
be an invidious act to particularise individuals as eminently
serviceable by the assistance they rendered to Robert Whitaker ;
but it may not be inappropriate to mention that, in connection
with such of them as became his personal friends, he always
counted among his greater privileges the helpful influence of
the converse and sympathy of John Broadhead, of Leeds. This
Friend frequently visited Robert and Hannah Whitaker, and,
whilst moving about the School, exerted a powerful influence, in
his gentle and quiet way, upon the teachers and officers, stimu-
lating in them the growth of a lofty sense of duty in a very
encouraging manner.
It would be a serious omission not to mention, amongst
Robert Whitaker's numerous efibrts to master the details of
every part of his position, the success he acquired in the know-
ledge and treatment of the diseases of children, into which he
was acknowledged by medical men to have a very clear and
penetrating insight.
A large Committee met in the Autumn of 1834 for the pur-
pose of discussing the. general arrangements of the Institution,
in the prospect of its management passing into the hands of
another Superintendent. It appears to have discussed almost
every existing arrangement connected with the instruction of
the children, the disposal of the farm, the position and status of
the apprentices, the clothing department and the system of
banking. It had several conferences with the masters for the
discussion of the details of their department, and minutes its
pleasure in their openness and willingness to adopt any altera-
tions the Committee might think desirable. It concluded that
200 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
a fresh Superintendent ought not to be burdened with the
charge of a large farm, but that all the estate should be let,
except so much of it as would be required to supply the School
with milk. Hitherto all the meat used had been fed and
slaughtered on the farm ; but a suspicion had arisen that there
were grave objections to this practice, and the Committee now
resolved to purchase all the meat from respectable butchers,
who were invited to tender for contracts each quarter of the
year. By the first contract entered into, meat " of prime quality "
was supplied at six shillings per stone; but in 1835 two con-
tracts were entered into for meat of the same class at five shillings
and sixpence and five shillings per stone, rather under fourpence
three farthings the pound in the former and little over fourpence
farthing in the latter case. One hundred and nine acres were
judged to be sufficient for the modified requirements of the
School, for which the Institution was, in the accounts, to repre-
sent the rent at £,■2■^o per annum, whilst it was to pay for the
milk sevenpence a gallon. Of the rest of the estate, about
eighty acres were leased to Robert Graham at a rental of
£\ 1 6s. per acre, and forty-two or three acres were let with
the School inn to Robert Denton at a rental of ;!^iio, inclusive
of the inn, which was to be enlarged and improved.
By reducing the responsibilities attaching to the office of
Superintendent in this way, the Committee had especially in
view the promotion, in their chief officer, of facilities for more
complete devotion to the cultivation of the knowledge of the
individual character of the young people under his charge, for
larger opportunity for attention to their religious instruction
and for giving them a "correct impression of the rehgious views
and practices of Friends." Arrangements were also made
whereby the admission of children was to be effected more
immediately through the Superintendent than heretofore.
Agents were instructed not to send any child in future until they
should have received advice to do so from the Superintendent,
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 20 r
to whom also all payments were to be made, or, if transmitted
to the Treasurer, intimation of such payment was to be for-
warded to him. But the most interesting results of the delibera-
tions of this special sitting of the Committee were perhaps those
which had reference to the conducting of the boys' schools.
The lower school-room, fronting the green, was fitted up for the
introduction of the monitorial system on a much more extended
scale — being intended for nearly eighty of the younger boys —
and placed under the care of Robert Doeg. The remaining
boys were equally divided into two sections, which were to be
considered on a par with each other in all respects. By this
arrangement, on rising from the monitorial school, a boy
remained in whichever of these two classes he was then placed
until he left Ackworth. These sections occupied the two large
upper school-rooms, — the one to the back being presided over
by Thomas Brown and that to the front by John Newby who,
since the death of Henry Brady, also gave instruction before
breakfast to the twenty boys who learned Latin, ten of whom
were chosen from his own and ten from T. Brown's first class.
It was arranged that the out-door inspection of the children
should still rotate amongst the three masters who presided over
these school-rooms but that, in order to afford them some relief
from the pressure of a double duty so severe, George Bottomley,
the book-keeper, was requested to take the inspection periodi-
cally with them. This latter scheme soon became inoperative.
The pressure upon the masters was excessive. They appealed
to the Committee in a few months for a reconsideration of it, and
that body resolved on the establishment of the office of a perma-
nent " Master on Duty" for the play-hours. The post was offered
to, and accepted by John Newby. He undertook, in addition
to the general charge of the children when not in school, to
teach the classes of the masters when they took their holidays
or were indisposed, to superintend one third of the work done
by the boys in the field or garden and to teach the Latin class.
For the last service, however, he received an additional
202 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Stipend. Robert Doeg moved up into "Number Three," as the
room in which John Newby had taught was called, and, after
some months anxious search, the Committee secured a successor
to him in the monitorial room, in John Freeman, who at the
request of the Committee, prior to coming to Ackworth, spent
three months at the Borough Road School, where he obtained
the required testimonial to his competency from the Secretary
of the British and Foreign School Society.
CHAPTER XI.
THOMAS PUMPHREY APPOINTED SUPERINTENDENT— STATE OF
THE SCHOOL AT THE TIME COMMEMORATION OF NEGRO
EMANCIPATION THE NEW SUPERINTENDENT'S DIFFICULTIES —
ENLARGEMENT OF THE INN TABLE-BEER DISCONTINUED —
INN LICENCE DISCONTINUED — HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
THE SOCIETY OF ARTS FOUNDED — OPERATIONS OF THE
" ASSOCIATION " COST OF BOYS' CLOTHING HANNAH
RICHARDSON CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS WORKSHOP
EXTENSION OF " VACATION " SYSTEM — GAS INTRODUCED —
MEASLES AND SCARLATINA — DR. WILLIAMSON'S REPORT ON
VENTILATION, &C. SCHOOL ENTRANCE IMPROVED — CHARLES
BARNARD EXPOSES THE DEFECTIVE WORKING OF THE
MONITORIAL SYSTEM AND IT IS DISCONTINUED.
In the autumn of 1834, Thomas Pumphrey of Worcester
offered himself for the office of Superintendent, which offer the
Committee unanimously accepted as an arrangement provisional
to its adoption by the Adjourned General Meeting and, on the
2nd of Twelfth Month, Thomas and Rachel Pumphrey took up
their abode at the school, as Superintendent and mistress of
the family.
At the time of their accession to office the School contained
only 276 children and there were in the "list," waiting for admis-
sion, but one boy and two girls. The panic spread by the fevers
of 1828 and 183 1 had probably not yet subsided. But the year
which had elapsed since Hannah Whita'ker's death, when her
husband became so prostrated that it was necessary that he
204 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
should seek quiet and rest amongst his friends, had been one
of miscellaneous government, no one being either long in com-
mand, or exclusively when professedly so, and the discipline had
become so disorganised that Friends may have been discouraged
from sending their children until they saw a strong guiding
hand at the helm. Common testimony evidences that during
this interregnum the worse elements of the School rose into
injurious prominence : a spirit which rejoiced in finding its chief
delight in lawless defiance of authority got abroad. From 1833
to 1835 or 6 there seem never to have been lacking five or six
daring and rebellious boys whose attitude was offensive in the
extreme. Ever going from bad to worse, these boys did not shrink
from mixing up, with their open defiance of School regulations,
the more grave offences of lying, stealing, and profanity. It is
painful to speak of these things, and we refrain from entering
into details of the disorder of a period whose character is fully
recorded in the masters' own documents. Suffice it to say that
it would be difficult to exaggerate the gravity of the evil spirit
that ruled in these boys. One consolation in some measure
compensates for the acuteness of the evil. It v?as so glaring
and repulsive that it cpuld have been attractive to very few.
Perhaps its worst form, as a contagious element, lay in its breaking
down respect for an authority that was incapable of coping with
it. Some months after Thomas Pumphrey becanie Superinten-
dent, the Committee would appear to have recommended the
expulsion of one of these boys but, either from a desire to win
back by long-suffering kindness one who, if thrown upon the
world, might suffer irreparable shipwreck, or from the hope that
the fear of such a threatened exposure might restore the boy to
orderly life, the suggestion was not at once carried out. He
consummated his long course of disgraceful conduct by a still
m.ore outrageous episode, for which he was locked up in the
Light and Airy Rooms and never saw his school-fellows again,
being expelled as soon as the Committee could be communicated
with.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 205
Although the disciphne of the School was undoubtedly very
seriously affected by the existence of conditions so inconsistent'
with orderly government and the moral tone experienced a
proportionate declension, things were not so bad that the more
right-minded did not assert their prerogative of independence.
It would be easy to mention the names of boys who as defiantly
bore the banner of loyalty to all that was lovely and of good
report as the baser spirits bore theirs against honour and upright-
ness. But here we might become invidious, for the meek and
quiet worker is not always fortunate in meeting with accidents
which hand down his memory in stirring episodes which testify
to his courage and fidelity. WJien "pious" and ^^ tugging'' were
epithets of derision, spoken by the mouths of those whose hands
were often practised in violence, it required no little courage
to deserve them. It needed something better and bolder than
priggishness in the boy who, when taunted, in those bad times,
with reading a religious book, stood up and said " I wish to be
able to give answer for the hope that is in me." The atmosphere
was too fiery for prigs to exist in, and this defiant answer came
from the old heroic spirit of better days. The unhappy state
of the discipline appears to have fretted the over-worked and
slender staff of masters into unwonted severity. This probably
aggravated some evils : it begat a habit of antagonism, amongst
too many of the boys, towards those in authority, whom they
came to regard as their enemies. The customary use of the
rod and the cane had doubtless some influence in reconciling
the kindest of men to habits of rigorous severity. Yet it is
only bare justice to the men who bore sway in the Schools at
Ackworth at this time that it should be said that they were,
without question, not only anxious to secure a right as well as
an orderly spirit amongst their charge, but to obtain justice with
consideration for all. In the pages of the masters' own minutes
for 1832, and evidently in the hand-writing of the clerk for the
time, we find an interesting paragraph on " Rash Judgment,"
adopted, doubtless, in the spirit of sacred desire not to deal
2o6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
ungenerously, unjustly, or inconsiderately towards delinquents,
nor as if they were irreclaimable.
" Let us not then censure things which are dubious as if they were certain ;
nor reprehend even manifest evils in such a manner as to represent them as
incurable. Of uncertain things those are most prompt to judge rashly who
take more delight in inveighing against what is amiss than in correcting it."
The paragraph concludes in the following hopeful strain : —
" Despair not therefore of your children when they are unwilling to receive
correction, or if they prove not speedily good ; for the labourer gathereth not
the fruits of the earth as soon as the seed is sown, but he waits till the due
season."
The occasion was cruel which could render men severe who
could adopt and endorse language so full of gentle wisdom.
During the worst of this period the work of the " Association"
collapsed entirely, but one interesting episode lit up the gloomy
year 1834 and supplied some young minds with food for thought
and work for a while. This was the Commemoration of the
Emancipation of the Slaves in the British Colonies on the ist of
Eighth Month. In prospect of a gala-day the children were
stimulated to write verses for the occasion, for the best of which
prizes were offered. When the day arrived a grand meeting of
all the children and numerous visitors was held in the Meeting
House, presided over by Luke Howard, F.R.S. Amongst the
visitors were conspicuous Joseph John Gurney, Thomas Lister
" the Barnsley Poet," and John Bright, then of course a young
man. Various congratulatory resolutions were passed, (some of
which were moved by boys,) amongst which William Fisher Sim
proposed and John Bright seconded one to the effect —
" That this meeting unites in the feeling of humble gratitude to the Author
of all Good, who has condescended so to bless the efforts of all Christians of
every denomination in this country, that the curse of slavery throughout the
British Empire is this day ended and that all the slaves are free !"
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 207
It is not a little interesting that one who was afterwards so
nobly to champion the welfare and freedom of the sons of toil
in that senate-house which had just liberated the bondman,
should have been present on an occasion so much in harmony
with the work of his after-life. A resolution which produced
some merriment was proposed by Thomas Stansfield — a very
little boy — " That Joseph John Gurney do write some verses
appropriate to the occasion.'' That Friend rephed that he was
not prepared to comply with the request himself, but that he
proposed to do so by proxy and insisted that Thomas Lister
should perform the duty for him. Accordingly next morning
the children were called together upon the Green to hear the
verses. The diminutive proposer of the resolution, mounted
upon the shoulders of his tall friend, Wm. Coor Parker, was
addressed as follows by Joseph John Gurney : —
Majestic friend of bold emprise
And station tall and towering,
Waste my poetic garden lies
And long has left off flowering.
The streams of Fancy cease to flow,
My brain is no more pliant,
The Muse rebels and answers " No,''
Although thou art a giant.
Children, in vain your voices ring.
Your hope delusive mocks ye,
Then take, content, the gift I bring —
Sweet verses writ by proxy.
Besides the " sweet verses," referred to by Thomas Lister,
and produced on the occasion just named, five " poems " had
been written for the " Commemoration '' by boys and four by
girls. The prizes were awarded to those by Sarah Fessant,
Lucy Clark, William Wetherald and Edward Palmer.
It will be clear to our readers that the new Superintendent
did not find himself on a couch of roses. On the contrary his
208 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
difficulties were enormous. Entirely without experience in the
training and management of boys, he had his way to feel, inch
by inch, along a thorny path. But, possessed of a settled
conviction that he was in his right place, he pressed on
with no little courage and patience. The way was long and
weary and taxed his every energy heavily. The suppression of
stubborn wrong-headedness drew out the severity of his nature,
but the refining arts of kindness were not unused. One who saw
his early career notes affectionately his "pleasant words " dropped
here and there, his kind christian discourses "not unmixed
with tears," his practice of devising "little treats,'' as among
the agencies before which broke down, with time, many of the
antagonistic elements rife in the school on his arrival.
As part of the programme of the large Special Committee of
1834, the School Inn, which had been let to Robeft Denton,
was greatly enlarged and improved in 1835. Friends visiting
Ackworth had long been very seriously inconvenienced by
deficiency of accommodation — the old house being quite in-
adequate to meet the demands made upon it, — and visitors were
sometimes obliged to find hostelry in the beer houses or cottages
of the village, often to their great discomfort. No room any-
where existed where could be entertained those large parties,
afterwards so much enjoyed, which visitors were often disposed
to gather around them. Those delightful evenings, to which so
many recent generations of Ackworth scholars look back as
amongst the sunniest spots of memory when twenty, thirty, or
even still larger companies of boys and girls mingled together
in so much happiness — were then unknown because impossible.
The improvements of 1835 rendered these practicable. The
Inn was of course then a house licensed to sell spirituous
liquors. The Temperance cause had not yet much disturbed
the minds of Friends as to the propriety of the use of these
beverages. This same year, however, the Country Committee
minuted its opinion that " no injury would be sustained by
7Wt^ I
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 209
discontinuing the use of beer at the children's table except in
cases where it should be ordered medicinally,'' and concluded
to abandon it if the London Committee should approve. That
body did not agree with the proposal, but the Country Committee
requested it to give the subject further consideration. Where-
upon the London Friends retired from the discussion of the
question by empowering their Country Friends to act on their
own judgment, which they did immediately by abolishing the
use of the beverage. But the sale of wines and spirits in their
own hotel was never challenged, apparently, until the year 1841,
when Samuel Routh, of Exthorpe, addressed a letter to the
Committee suggesting the desirability of the withdrawal of the
license. The Committee was in no hurry to adopt the sugges-
tion. After discussing it on two occasions, it only " inclined to
the opinion" that no great injury would arise from its adoption,
and referred the matter to the consideration of its London
section. When that body replied, which was not immediately,
it merely suggested that the sale of excisable liquors in the
tap-room should be discontinued. This mode of shelving the
general question removed the lukewarmness of the home
Committee, which returned to the charge more vigorously ; and
the London Friends, knowing pretty well, by this time, the
unwearying persistency of the Yorkshire Friends, left the point
to be decided by them. On this, Robert Denton was at once
informed that the license would be withdrawn at the close of
the year, and, he declining to remain under the altered circum-
stances of the house, George Charlesworth became landlord of
the Temperance Hotel. This change came into operation in
1842.
In 1835 a number of boys fond of gardening formed, amongst
themselves, a Horticultural Society, under the presidency
of Robert Doeg, one of the masters. Its chief object was to
encourage gardening and its concomitant arts, by establishing
Exhibitions at which prizes should be given for the best plants
2 10 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
and flowers, for neat gardens, good "clatty sides," the best
rockeries, grottoes, and bouquets. The boys were at this time
encouraged to cultivate their Httle garden-plots, by being per-
mitted, every Spring, to draw upon their accounts in the Office,
to the extent of ten-pence each, for the purchase of seeds &c.
from James Jones, the school gardener. Great was the
excitement when this occasion came round. The lists were
always made out in school-time, and their preparation formed
the largest business transaction of the year. The long winter
months had usually disturbed the memories of amateur gardeners
a good deal. Most of them remembered that there were plants
called Pansies and a little more reflection usually re-discovered
the names of Stocks and Marigolds. Sweet-peas and Wallflowers
were words whispered from form to form and, as matters grew
more urgent, louder voices spoke of the Mimulus— a wonderfully
favourite plant with Ackworth boys — of Prince's-Feather and
Love-Lies-Bleeding. Candytuft and Mignonette helped to
swell the tenpenny list of the unlearned, but the members of
the H.S. ordered Auriculas, Anemones, the Lupinus and the
Polyanthus. A few of the wealthier bought Fuschias, all glorious
with bloom, or the newer Dahlias— the grand rage of young
gardeners of that day. Anxiously was awaited the execution of
these important orders. Each one, thinking only of his own
little packet, declaimed against the tardy gardener who
appeared to him a mortal most prodigal of the Spring days.
To the enthusiasm of a few, his procrastination proved fatal.
Their new-born zeal for gardening expired from lack of
instant application. At length, a tap at the Office window,
looking into the Colonnade, attracted the attention of some
idler near — a wild and joyous cry of " Seeds !" flew round the
play-ground, from every corner of which and from every
distant school-room immediately hurried streams of young
gardeners to participate in the long-looked for distribution.
Then succeeded days of delightful anticipation. But Nature
often proved as tardy as James Jones. Even mustard and
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 211
*
cress did not grow in a single night. But, if those toothsome
vegetables did not make their appearance in time for the first
" butter-night," great was the disappointment, many the sus-
picions that the head-gardener had palmed off upon the boys
barren seed which had cost him nothing and out of which
he was no doubt growing monstrously rich. But spring
showers and summer sunshine usually corrected these notions ;
and what Ackworth boy does not recollect the gay button-hole
flowers and bouquets which sparkled everywhere on bright
Sunday mornings and lit up with colour the dingy old Meeting
House ? As the evening meal of that day^drew near too, how
happy were the successful cultivators of the radish and the
fortunate growers of nasturtium leaves — those piquant condi-
ments which made the bread-and-butter a feast fit for epicures,
although no beverage accompanied it but water.
The Horticultural Society was worked with great spirit in
its infancy. It sometimes held five exhibitions in a single
summer. Two professional gardeners usually adjudged the
prizes and, although their adjudication did not always escape
criticism, the awards were a great stimulus to the recipients,
who did not often question the justice of a decision in their
own favour. A writer in the local " Telegraph " took note of
the operation of the. prize system and waggishly remarked :—
" One of the fashioris I have observed among my school-fellows
is the readiness with which we do anything when a reward is
offered. Our gardens lately have been better attended to than
before, because prizes are given for the best flowers. We
were told that the best grottoes would receive prizes, so
nearly all of us put our hand to the work." Having struck
on this satisfactory vein, Isaac Quicksight, as the young
author styles himself, prosecutes his sarcastic teachings in
other directions, hitting especially hard at a practice which
we shall, of course, suppose to have been entirely imaginary : —
"When a Friend comes to see us from whom we expect a
P 2
212 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
present, we make up a fine large nosegay in a very ,few minutes
and are eager to present it," and, as he "believes that the
reward of money is the ruling motive of many," he suggests
that the Editor of the " Telegraph" would " have correspondents
enow" if "he would give a reward to those who write the
best letters."
In spite of Isaac Quicksight's merry-making over the love
of money amongst his school-fellows, the Horticultural Society
flourished for more than ten years, chiefly under the guidance
of Robert Doeg and Charles Barnard. Towards the close of
that period, William Sewell came to the presidency of the
litde Society and, under his management, a system of weekly
examination of the gardens of the members was instituted in
1845. Two boys and a teacher, nominated to the duty by
the Society, took careful notes, every week, of the state in which
each garden was found, and, upon their data, a series of prizes
was based. This admirable plan was short-lived, however,^ and
the operation of the Society soon after this effort to revive the
drooping art of gardening, ceased altogether. The . inter-
ruption of a general holiday, two years after this, must have
seriously militated against successful horticulture.
The Society of Arts was formed the year following that in
which the Horticultural Society had its origin. At a general
meeting of boys interested in the question, held on the 24th of
Tenth Month, 1836, John Newby in the chair, it was resolved to
establish an association for the encouragement of drawing, map-
ping, laying down plans, ornamental penmanship, and modelling
in card-board, wood, or any other material. John Newby was
installed as president and Thomas Hunton as curator of the newly-
formed society. John W. Payne and Thomas Puplett were its first
secretaries. The members went to work vigorously, and within
two months felt themselves strong enough to hold an exhibition
of their work, 145 specimens of which were presented at it.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH ' SCHOOL 213
It was neither a large nor remarkable collection of art-produce ;
but the society had commenced operations on a very modest
scale. As its funds depended on the penny entrance fee and
the penny quarterly subscription of its members, it had not
been able to launch out extravagantly in the purchase of copies
and its first efforts were surrounded by difficulties. These were
not allowed to depress its hopeful fortunes and the first year of
its existence was one of much activity. The number of speci-
mens presented for exhibition quarterly gradually crept up
until, in the autumn of 1837, it amounted to 401. The mem-
bers who, perhaps, distinguished themselves in these early
exhibitions above their school-fellows by their drawings, were
John King Donbavand, Edw. Latchmore and Henry Wilson.
But the work of the society was, in its infancy, by no means con-
fined to drawing. Large numbers of models of cranes, mangles,
lathes, brigs, clocks, steam-engines, &c. were produced, as well
as Eolian harps and electrical machines. William Johnson, of
Manchester, was a very kind patron to the society in its poorer
days, frequently making himself responsible for superior prizes
and, in many ways, encouraging its development. With its
success, its aspirations rose and its patrons increased. Its
chest of drawing copies was rapidly enriched. Presents of
tools, casts, drawings and money flowed in abundantly. Under
the active presidency of John Newby, the members, for some
years, worked very assiduously. For want of a professional
master who could direct and lead onward, assist over real
difficulties and draw out the latent powers of the boys, the best
service of the society lay, perhaps, in the encouragement it
afforded to a better use of leisure time and in its finding an
interesting hobby for active minds. It may have laid the founda-
tion for some pleasant enjoyment of art in later life and,
although its work was probably equal to most of that which
schools of the time produced, it can scarcely, without flattery,
be said to have done more than skirt the margin of good art-
work. Imperfect as it was in this particular, it was a real
214 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
power in the School, at times energizing large sections of it into
enthusiasm and stifling that nil admirari spirit which idleness
amongst masses is so prone to cultivate. Like the Horticultural
Society it drooped and almost collapsed in 1845 — to be, how-
ever, afterwards reanimated with a still more progressive spirit ;
but, of this, more anon.
The " Association for the Improvement of the Mind " con-
tinued its operations, although its pristine activity and brilliancy
had passed away. In 1831 it started another periodical with
the title of the "Ackworth Review." The objects of the paper
were professedly threefold : — " ist. To correct wrong opinions
among the members ; 2nd. To teach them to think correctly ;
and 3rd. To excite a love of knowledge and improvement.''
These sections of its programme naturally suggest the question
whether the society had not begun to need the spur. Its
effusions support that suspicion. The number of young writers
•of merit had become smaller. But there were still strong
spirits who, for some years, bore the torch nobly through ranks
whose courage or whose ability was not that of yore. Such were
Thomas Hunton, Joseph S. Farrand, Henry Thorp, Daniel
Peirson, John Stansfield, William Taylor, Christopher Robinson,
Joseph Taylor and Alfred Kitching, all of whom, before the
sad year of 1834, carried off prizes for excellence and left to
future generations examples of their thought and skill. The
year just referred to was nearly a blank in the society's opera-
tions. Whilst the children of the School were rejoicing in the
delivery of the negro in the British Colonies from slavery, they
were themselves sliding under the yoke of indifference. Al-
though the "Association " never, perhaps, entirely recovered from
the influence of that temporary collapse, it returned to its work,
under John Newby's presidency, in 1835 with considerable
animation and maintained its honour until 1838 with some
lustre. In the former 6f these years " The Telegraph "
appeared, and continued to do so periodically until the latter
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 215
year, during which papers, filling two extant volumes, were
thrown off in the form of letters from " Desiderius Plato;' and
his youthful correspondents — " Isaac Quicksight," " Echo,"
'•'■Benjamin Solid;' "Robert Eyebright" and others. The
early numbers, devoted chiefly to school politics and manners,
are bright, sprightly and clever. The periodical afforded an
excellent medium for rapping, slyly yet pleasantly, heavily yet
unirritatingly — at absurd or undesirable customs and sentiments
abroad in the School. But in the course of time one of its own
correspondents discovers that the old vigour is dying out and, '
in a paper intended to goad his fellow-correspondents into in-
creased activity, " Echo " really sounds the knell of the
" Telegraph." Under the similitude of a sick person, he thus
represents the state of the "Association :"—" Some very un-
pleasant symptoms have appeared — a general derangement of
the system from vis inertia, plagiarism breaking out in various
parts and a general debility of the thinking organs," for which
he prescribes " rectified spirits," to be followed up by a tonic
course of " tincture of galls, dissolved in solution of logwood
and iron." (N.B. — A recent essay had described the manufac-
ture of ink.) The illness of the patient proved to be a rapid,
though happily not a fatal, decline. Although great eifforts were
made by the president, in 1838, to permeate the flagging system
of the "Association" with fresh blood by holding numerous even-
ing meetings, in which it was sought to rouse the members to
new fields of effort, all was in vain. The society, as such,
entered into a trance which continued for upwards of two
years.. Those who brought most honour to the "Association"
during this latter period — 1834-1838 — by their able essays
were, perhaps, Alfred Kitching, Edw. May, Edw. Palmer, John
Taylor, Henry E. Smith,* Thomas Puplett, William Sanders,
* Devoting himself with enthusiastic zeal to antiquarian pursuits, Heniy
Ecroyd Smith published, about 1848, a series of chromo-lithogi'aphs of the
Roman-British tessellated pavements at Aldborough, near Boroughbridge in
2l6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
and Daniel Catlin Burlingham. Of the essays written by these
young writers, all of whom received distinguished prizes, few
were so highly commended as that on Belzoni, by Henry E.
Smith, who thus early indicated a marked taste for a line of
pursuit in which he has since become distinguished.
The library of books belonging to the "Association," founded
in its infancy and from time to time enriched with works of
much interest and value to the young people, was ever one of
the great attractions to membership. Many boys who never
wrote an essay derived untold pleasure and advantage from
the perusal of its treasures. In the "Association's " earlier years.
Yorkshire, the first plate of which represents a discovery of his own — that of
a well-executed and perfect floor of elegant design. Four years afterwards,
he published a more elaborate work on the same subject, entitled
"Reliquife IsuriansE, the Remains of the Roman Isurium," in royal 4to.
with 36 plates. This work was recognised as of great merit by leading
antiquaries, was favourably reviewed by the " AthenEeum" and was charac-
terised by the now venerable antiquarian bookseller, John Russell Smith,
as " the best illustrated work on a Roman Station in England."
About 1862, he contributed some important chapters on Seals, Pilgrim
Signs, Coins, Tokens, Pottery, Glass, Enamels &c. to Dr. Hume's work on
"Ancient Meols," — an account of antiquities found near Dove Point,
Cheshire.
In 1870, he issued by private subscription, "Reliques of the Anglo-Saxon
Churches of St. Bridget and St. Hildeburgh, West Kirkby, Cheshire,"
illustrated by numerous lithographed plates, in crown quarto. In 1871,
appeared his "Antiquarian Researches and Discoveries in the Mersey
District." Besides these works, Henry Ecroyd Smith has contributed
numerous papers to the Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire
and Cheshire, of which, as well as of the Yorkshire Arch^ological and
Topographical Association, he is an hon. member.
His latest considerable production issued to subscribers in 1878, is his
" Annals of the Smith family of Cantley, Balby and Doncaster and con-
nected families," — an elaborate genealogical work comprising nearly twenty
thousand names, with biographical notices of the more eminent individuals.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 217
the Friends on the Committee and other visitors were frequent
attendants of its essay-meetings and acquired, by the practice,
an interest in its welfare which was often indicated by handsome
donations of money, much of which went to enlarge the library
of the society. Great numbers of curiosities also were presented
and, in 1838, these had accumulated so considerably as to
demand a suitable provision for their preservation and display.
An appropriate cabinet was that year obtained for them at a
cost of ;^2 9.
The cost of clothing the children having shewn, in 1835, some
tendency to increase unduly, an arrangement was made in the
boys' tailoring department, in 1836, which it was hoped would
help to fix the range of expenditure. The making of the boys'
clothes was contracted for at the following rates :- - 5/- for a coat
and waistcoat, 4/- for a jacket and waistcoat and 2/- for a pair
of trowsers, these prices being exclusive of the finding of any
material ; the mending for all the boys was to be done for 18/-
a week, including thread and sewing silk. It is rather remark-
able that the cost of clothing varied so little as it did from the
foundation of the school down to very recent times. Even the
annual holiday system did not for some years affect it at all
considerably. The average cost per head during the first twenty
years varied only a few pence from that of years immediately
preceding the present decade.
The health of Priscilla Kincey, the governess, which had
never been very strong, broke down in 1835 and it became
necessary for her to leave her post. Early in 1836 Hannah-
Richardson, of York, undertook to supply her place tem-
porarily. Once in the office for which she was so admirably
fitted, it would have been difficult for her to withdraw from it
under any circumstances, but, as no one offered to release her
from it, she retained it for upwards of ten years. Her kindness
and gentleness combined with great force of character, her
2l8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
suavity and urbanity associated with much native dignity, united
to give her a large place in the esteem and affections of the
whole community, whilst her large heart and quick maternal
instincts enabled every parent to feel that, in her, her girl had
a true mother. The extraordinary popularity of the girls' school
during her presidency, in marked contrast, as we shall see, to
public feeling towards the boys' side during the same period, is
itself the best evidence of the admirable management of
Hannah Richardson and the teachers who worked so har-
moniously under her leadership.
But little expansion of the school curriculum of studies took
place for many years after the introduction of the more extended
monitorial scheme under John Freeman. Prior to that move-
ment in 183s, Geography and English history were taught only
to sixty of the upper boys, but the Lancasterian system demanded
that these subjects should be extended to most, if not to all,
who came under it. The plan lent itself admirably to map
instruction ; and the drilling of the rudiments of geography, in
the monitorial classes, was perhaps one of the most successful
features of the system, leading up, in the higher classes and in
later life, to an interest in, and acquaintance with, the subject
not common amongst any rank of society. With the exception
of this extension downwards, we know of no addition to, or im-
provement in, any department for several years. A gradual doubt
sprang up in the minds of some of the Committee, which slowly
spread through the Society, that things were not all that they
should be ; yet years were to elapse before any radical change
was to remove a cloud of which all grew yearly more conscious.
Nor was the standard of proficiency maintained in the subjects
taught, to the satisfaction of the Committee. In 1836 it began
to notice a falling off in the boys' interest in their Scripture
studies and, in 1838, a still greater defect in their Reading.
This latter subject was the source of complaint for many years
and chiefly, we believe, from the prevalence of the faults noticed
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 219
in the report of the year just referred to : — " a want of greater
modulation of voice and a more gently declining cadence at the
end of a sentence."
But if the studies were inelastic, an age of domestic reforms
was initiated. Men's minds were not yet ready to abolish the
Light and Airy Rooms, which were still to witness many painful
and some ludicrous episodes, but a growing sense of the fitness
of things forbade that they should be longer tenanted in severe
weather without having the chill taken off their severe atmosphere.
They were warmed by means of steam-pipes in 1837. The
same year witnessed the discontinuance of the wearing of caps
at Meeting by the girls. It was at the same time proposed to
supply the girls' dining-room with table-cloths, but some Friends
of frugal mind objected to the innovation and it was postponed
sine die. That same year, however, Thos. Pumphrey secured
the disuse of climbing sweeps, and the establishment of a work-
shop for the boys. This was erected behind the colonnade,
from which it was entered. It was not calculated to accommo-
date many boys at once, being only 20 ft. long by 9 ft. wide,
but it was an admirable stimulus to a certain class and a useful
auxiliary to the -newly organised " Society of Arts.'' Thomas
Pumphrey shewed much favour to the extension of permits for
holidays to children who had been long at School and parents
gladly availed themselves of the increased facility afforded by
his sympathy for having their children home. In the Spring of
1838, leave was granted to fifteen children at once and, that
year, no fewer than thirty-three visited their friends. Although
many disadvantages arose from the increase of this practice,
Thos.' Pumphrey always held that the balance of good was in
its favour. In 1838, also, loose linen collars were introduced
into the boys' side : these were changed on Meeting-days. The
year before, pinafores were supplied to forty of the younger boys,
for use at meals and, if they had been dealt out to a much
larger number, it would have been to the advantage of their
2 20 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
personal attire. About the time of these various changes, the
practice of employing boys in the fields to gather stones, to
" pick wicks," (twitch grass) and to gather potatoes was discon-
tinued. But the introduction of Gas as an illuminating medium
surpassed in value all other domestic reforms of the time.
Twenty years prior to its adoption, some of the Committee had
proposed it, but the more cautious did not like the risks involved
and, even in 1837, there were many unprepared to encourage it
until the money should be subscribed for the apparatus by those
who felt interested in its introduction. It was estimated that
the erection of a gas-house would cost;^i5o, and the necessary
fittings ;!^7oo more. Towards this ^£300 were promised in the
Spring ; and in the Autumn, in response to a circular issued by
the Committee, the sum promised amounted to upwards of
_;^6oo. In the following Spring, the subscriptions having
reached the sum of ;£(i2,^ i8s. 6d., the Committee gave order
for the erection of the needful works. They were completed
in the Autumn, at a total cost of ;^7i6.
They who knew the day of the oil-lamp ask us to imagine one
of the large bed-rooms (seventy feet long) lighted by a single
dip — they invite us to picture a school-room, almost as long,
dependent for its illumination, on dark mornings and evenings,
on two solitary oil lamps — they dwell with some pride of
memory on the brilliancy of a wonderful illuminating arrange-
ment in the dining-room ; but their description of the Cimmerian
darkness of the play-ground fills us with perplexity to understand
how boys of those dark ages could pass their time, except in a
perpetual round of enforced hide-and-seek. When the winter
play-ground shall yield up its present, obscurity to the blaze of the
electric light, another generation maybe almost as much puzzled
with the conditions of the Present as we are with those of the Past.
In the Winter of 1836-7, forty-four of the children passed
safely through the rheasles. Two years afterwards, about a
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 221
hundredandeightyof them were attacked by scarlatina from which,
however, a large proportion suffered but slightly. The occasion
remains of interest chiefly from its leading the Committee to
invite Dr. Williamson to meet Caleb Williams for the purpose of
investigating the state of the premises. An accident prevented
these gentlemen being at Ackworth on the same day, which
circumstance gives us the advantage of two independent reports.
That of Dr. Williamson was especially careful and elaborate.
Although he thought it would be an advantage to the children
to have some animal food daily, he did not consider that the
School records of health warranted the opinion that the com-
munity had been subject to more than an average amount of
sickness, or that the school hours were injuriously long. Neither
did he think that the local influences of situation, drainage, sub-
soil, &c., accounted for the recent attack of scarlatina. The
arrangements for ventilatioji he considered extremely bad.
"I am compelled to say" — so runs his report — "that having examined
carefully the several apartments at Ackworth, I regard nearly the whole of
that establishment as extremely defective with regard to the necessary pre-
vision for the introduction of the pure external air and the removal of
the noxious results of respiration from so large a number of persons. "
The want of ventilation in the bed-rooms struck him very
forcibly. Referring to the windows as the only means existing
for changing the air, he pointed out that, being situated two or
three feet below the ceiling, a reservoir for foul air existed in the
top of the room, which, pouring down its noxious contents to be
re-inspired, was probably a fruitful source of injury to the public
health. The system of warming the school-rooms he condemned
still more decidedly. Old scholars will remember the large black
iron piping which conveyed the heating medium — steam —
through the rooms, at an elevation considerably above their
heads. Dr. Williamson insisted that the heating surface should
be as near the floor as possible — that fresh air should be admitted
near them through numerous minute apertures, whilst an exit
22 2 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
should be provided for the foul air by a similar arrangement in
the ceiling, supplemented by larger openings under control.
He objected to the use of steam altogether, pointing out that
pipes so heated must necessarily " always be at a temperature
of 212", because at a lower heat the steam will condensp." He
further states that as "the surface temperature of steam-pipes
is about 200"," their use must produce a degree of heat " inju-
rious to the air itself " and an atmosphere altogether too warm
and close to be wholesome. He strongly urged the use of hot
water in place of steam. Caleb Williams also objected to
"warming by steam-pipes, as then employed," as being "inju-
rious to the health of the children." He also considered the
diet as probably too low ; and suggested greater frequency in
some forms of personal ablution. But his condemnation fell
most heavily upon the state of the boys' conveniences.
In connection with this investigation it was shown that
the deaths during the six decades of the School's existence
had been as follows : —
In the First ten years 14 deaths
Second
II
II
Third
II
8
Fourth
II
7
Fifth
II
17
Sixth
II
9
Total 66 deaths in 60 years.
The Committee appears to have been much perplexed by
the warming and ventilating schemes which now, from time to
time, came before it. In the autumn, measles again broke out
and thirty-five of the children had the complaint. A few
ventilators were inserted in the boys' dining-room and in their
monitorial school, which was then crowded with eighty boys ;
and the girls' bed-room floors were supplied with similar com-
munication with the open air, whilst their school-rooms, also,
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 223
had openings perforated in their ceihngs. Scarlatina again
visited the School in 184 1-2, carrying off three victims, and
again in 1844; yet still the Committee took no considerable
action in reference to sanitary matters. Forty-four cases of
measles in 1845 still left things much as they were but, in
1846, the girls' steam-pipe arrangements collapsed from old
age and a complete change was made on that side ■ of the
house, by the introduction of a system of warming by hot
water.
Prior to 1839, ^^'^^ approach to the School was between long
high walls which gave a very dismal impression to the visitor
who for the first time passed along the narrow flagged way
towards the office, and, between which, the heart of many a
fresh scholar, who had thitherto borne up bravely, must have
been depressed by the prospect of what such an unattractive
beginijing might end in. The wall between this path and the
" Office garden" was now thrown down and replaced by a light
iron rail ; and although the approach would still have com-
pared very meanly with the present noble entrance, the
change was a bright transformation scene to the generation
that witnessed it.
In 1839, John Freeman left, after having conducted the
monitorial school for four years. The system pursued in that
school had been, on the whole, highly satisfactory to the
Committee; and Charles Barnard, having offered himself as
John" Freeman's successor, was requested to spend a few
months at the Borough Road School in order that he might
acquaint himself with the most recent developments of the
system. In the interim, Robt. Doeg took charge of the
monitorial school, and John Newby took R. Doeg's school.
The out-door "duty" was taken by each master in turn, as
formerly. On Charles Barnard's arrival, these officers reverted
to their own spheres. The monitorial school maintained
2 24 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
its prestige in the opinion of many of the members of the
Committee who, although slow to adopt the system when first
proposed, now regarded it with the affection due to a favourite
idea. But the masters, who were more intimately conversant
with its working, were not ignorant of its unsuitability to the
general system of the School and, in 1841, Charles Barnard
prepared a paper, the general substance of which was en-
dorsed by the Masters' Meeting, in which he sketched for the
Committee the objections to the use of the scheme at Ack-
worth. He shewed that its application to a section of a
School like theirs could not be expected to yield more than
a very limited success. Being confined to about eighty of the
least advanced boys in the School, its highest and most
advanced pupils must necessarily be very young for the office
of monitor, even had it been possible for them to practice
teaching until they gained some little proficiency in the art,
but this was impracticable because they were just the boys who
were being continually drafted off for promotion to vacancies in
the upper rooms. To remedy this defect in the teaching
power, the plan had been adopted of obtaining the assistance
of four boys from the Upper Schools, but as they could not,
with any propriety, be absent from their classes more than
a fortnight at once, they were very raw to the work and often
proved wholly incompetent to the service. Disappointing as
this disclosure was to some of the Committee, that body
could not resist the force of the arguments against the system,
and the following year the monitorial school was divided into
two schools of equal standing, one of which was taught by
Charles Barnard in old " Number One," the other by Joseph
Stickney Sewell in " Number Two." Each of these masters^
had the assistance of an apprentice.
CHAPTER XII.
THE TICKET SYSTEM— TEACHERS' HOLIDAYS—" KNIFE CLEAN-
ERS" — NEW DINING ROOM FOR THE GIRLS — READING ROOM —
SICKNESS AND DEATH WILLIAM SEWELL DOMESTIC DUTIES
PERFORMED BY THE CHILDREN--THE APPRENTICES UNPOPU-
LARITY OF THE boys' SCHOOL POPULARITY OF THE GIRLS'
SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION — UNSATISFACTORY
STATE OF THINGS ON THE BOYs' SIDE OF THE HOUSE ANNUAL
VACATION DISCUSSED FATAL ACCIDENTS LECTURERS
WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS GREAT BUILDING ERA TEN
CLASSES RETIREMENT OF HANNAH RICHARDSON.
In the Committee's report on the state of the boys, in the
autumn of 1839, we find a gentle intimation of a deficiency in
the standard of order : — " The reports respecting the conduct
of the boys generally are not quite so favourable as they have
been at some former examinations, but this remark refers more
to breaches of school discipline than to moral delinquency."
Unhappily this was ominous of what proved to be a long period
of disorder and bad feeling. The Boys' School was entering
upon a section of its history — extending over some years —
which may, without hyperbolism, be styled its Dark Ages. It
was probably in consequence of a . growing tendency to petty
disorder that a change in the ticket system had been made
earlier in the year. The cumulative system, so long in vogue,
and which had embraced class-work excellence as well as good
habits of order, was abandoned. Instead of receiving tickets
for school-work, a boy was credited with marks, registered in the
usual modern style. Tickets were retained as more convenient
226 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
for marking delinquencies out of doors, by forfeiture. Thirty
of these tickets or counters were given to each boy and, every
week, an account was taken by the master of each school of
the number each boy had in his possession, after which his
complement of thirty was again made up. There were boys
of careful, orderly habits who never forfeited tickets. They
were never late to the collectings for meals, school or meeting;
they never spoke a syllable on those occasions nor uttered a
word at table nor whispered in the dark "narrow-passage."
They were never late into bed or spoke there before the
monitor gave permission, and they had always retired from
their ablutions in the cellar, in the morning, within the pre-
scribed twenty minutes from the ringing of the bell for rising.
They never laughed at a wrong moment or put their hands
down at table a second behind' time. At the collectings
in the shed they " toed the line " with mathematical precision,
keeping their line of vision exactly perpendicular to it until the
command to " Turn" brought it swiftly into perfect parallelism
with it. They never threw stones, put their heads out of
windows, drew syrup out of the baker's pies, indulged in
whistling or played the Jews'-harp. They never read Tele-
machus or recited Chevy Chase. When the joys of a bolster-
fight grew delirious around them they clave more closely to
their restful pillow. When less scrupulous " sand-breakers''
fed sumptuously on turnips, they conscientiously preserved
their hunger to a more legitimate season. By night and by day,
these watchful spirits, full of masterful self-control, refused to
be betrayed a hair's breadth to the right or to the left of the
sharp line of absolute law. But there were boys whose mirth
and fun bubbled up, in spite of themselves, at all unseason-
able moments, whose tongues were always forgetting to take
counsel with their heads, whose exceeding sociability would not
be denied its vocation, whose highly strung nerves must be
relieved by action at the cost of any known penalty — boys to
whom life was more than tickets — and these often had few
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 227
enough of them at the end of the week. Others there were,
no doubt, who forfeited all their tickets and would have for-
feited many more, if they had had them — perverse spirits who
would do the things they should not — boys not moved to
irregularities by warm impulses, but incited to them by con-
tradictoriness of soul. Happily these were in all generations,
probably, a small minority. To the second and third classes,
here referred to, the ticket system was provocative of much
irritation. To the second, especially, the command to '■'■Forfeit"
usually burst in so unexpectedly upon happy moments — it was
so imperious — it was so frequent — so much like a tax, and the
collector so much like a tax-gatherer — that the best hearted at
last grew sore under the continual infliction. Yet the system
had its advantages and it retained its place until 1848, when it
was abolished.
The amount of relaxation allowed to the masters and
mistresses had never been more than a fortnight in the year,
although those who cared to do so were permitted to allow the
time to accumulate for two or more years. In 1840, the time
was increased to three weeks, but the cumulative principle was
prohibited, with the exception that a teacher might carry over a
single week to the following year. The apprentices had still to
content themselves with one week in the year ; but the prohibi-
tion to accumulate was not made applicable to them.
The same year witnessed a pleasant change in the arrange-
ment for cleaning knives. Hitherto the boys who performed
this office were relegated to a dingy cellar under the middle of
their Wing for the purpose. The duty was not a pleasant one,
and the place was odious. The latter was at all times gloomy
enough ; but in wet weather and towards the close of winter
days it was a fearful place to timorous natures. Whilst a goodly
company was at work together no Ackworth boy cared much for
either dirt or darkness ; but, as the older and more experienced
Q 2
228 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
boys finished their allotted tale of knives and forks, the spirits
of the thinning ranks of younger boys began to sink. Then the
little fingers of the little fellows worked swiftly and nervously.
To be late would be disagreeable, to be last would be terrible.
As the daylight began to fade, eerie thoughts began to creep up.
Was not the place haunted ? Did not all authority vouch for
it ? Close at hand were other cellars darker still than this one.
What mysteries might not the Dark reveal ? Harder still the
little fingers scrubbed and scrubbed, but the soils were obdurate
— not all the ashes of Ackworth would eradicate them. Still
the occupants of the dismal cellar decreased in number and the
terror of the remnant grew with every departure. Few would
be so inhuman as to leave a little school-fellow all alone in such
a place of terrors ; but inhumanity is not always confined to
grown-up men, and cases have occurred of timid and nervous
boys, whose fears had been worked up to fever heat, being left
with no company but the shadows of their own all too lively
imaginations. Many such boys have fled up those cellar steps
too terrified to look back into the dark again. But now all this
was to be withdrawn from the experience of future generations.
A place was provided above ground for the knife-cleaners out
of a portion of the tailor's shop.
The Girls' School was at this time highly popular. In 1835
the number in the School was but 113, and there were not more
than two or three " on the list." Since Hannah Richardson's
advent, the lumbers seeking admission had greatly increased
until, in 1841, there were 76 "on the list." The Committee
began seriously to think of enlarging the girls' department.
The London Committee, having been requested to consider
the subject, encouraged the home Committee to procure plans
for such an extension of the building as it might think desirable.
These were prepared by Mr. Pritchett, of York. The plan was
a bold one, including the erection of a new dining-room for the
girls, with a large dormitory on the first floor, measuring 65 ft.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 229
by 21 ft, and good lavatory accommodation; and also the
conversion of the girls' old dining-room into a lecture-hall or
reading-room, seated for nearly 400 persons. The work was
completed in 1842, at a cost of ^^1039 iis. 6d. Up to this
time the boys' dining-room had to be arranged at the close of
every day, by the " waiters," for the evening " readings," and on
First Days the girls' dining-room forms were also brought in, as
well as the chairs from the Committee-room for the accom-
modation of the teachers and visitors ; for the boys and girls
then, as now, met together on that day for their "Scripture
reading," at which a master and a boy and a mistress and a
girl each read his and her portion.
Whilst these works were in progress, the School passed
through a very trying time of sickness. During the summer
months of 1841, several isolated cases of scarlatina appeared
amongst the children and, in the autumn, the patients became
more numerous. The number of serious cases was not large
but three deaths occurred amongst them — one in the active
stage of the fever and two from complaints consequent
upon it. There were forty-six decided cases and twenty-one of
a more doubtful type. The visitation was rendered still more
melancholy by the death of Rachel Pumphrey early in 1842.
The season was a very solemn one to the family generally.
To the older members of it, it was one of deep trial — to the
Superintendent himself it must have been one of almost over-
whelming mental suffering. To add to the painfulness of his
distress, the conduct of a section of the boys had given him
deep concern. His cup of anguish seemed to on-lookers more
than he could bear. One of these, writing sometime after the
loss of his wife but describing his appearance during one of the
scripture-readings prior to her death, says: — "he seemed
plunged into the deepest exercise. I never myself witnessed
anything so like an agony of soul — his very body seemed to bow
and to writhe in unison with his wrestling spirit." " * """ " He
230 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
seemed withheld from vocal utterance; his public service
appeared to consist, that evening, in being made a ' spectacle
unto men ; ' and, judging from the impression made on my own
mind, a more lasting effect for good was produced than would
have resulted from a more usual exercise." Referring to an
occasion a few days after his great loss, the same writer says : —
" I was impressed with the expression of his countenance ;
restrained sorrow, chastened grief, Christian resignation- seemed
to be depicted there."
It does not enter into the province of this little work to
attempt to delineate the characters or modes of labour of the
masters and mistresses who have occupied positions in the
School, but those who were favoured at this time to be members
of the First Class, in Old Number Three, will revert with interest
to the lessons drawn from the sad events of the day by one who
was, indeed, then a comparative stranger to them, having only
entered the School in the autumn of 1841, but who, by his
powerfully sympathetic nature, had already won many of their
hearts. Of a quiet, retiring disposition, and possessed of a
constitution with delicate tendencies, William Sewell did not,
perhaps, possess those energies which seem requisite for swaying
the masses, and consequently made no remarkable impress on
the School at large. But in his own particular class, to whose
mental, moral and spiritual well-being his life was devoted with
something allied to self-sacrifice, he was the genuine, high-souled
elder brother of each of its members. From him, all took a
loftier and nobler view of duty and some learned precious
lessons in a holier life. His kindness, his love, his zeal for their
happiness were reciprocated, in no stinted measure, by the
affectionate admiration and loyalty of his pupils. Indirectly he
was a power in the School, for in his class was found much of
the saving salt of a bad time. We rarely meet one of his old
pupils whose heart does not melt into tenderness when his
memory is discussed. He remained at Ackworth four* years.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 23 1
when symptoms of consumption compelled him to leave early
in 1846. The Committee, which valued him very highly, kept
the post open for him for some months, but in vain ; before the
year was out his bright young career was finished.
The employments in which the children were engaged but of
School, by way of assisting in its industries and domestic offices,
attracted the attention of the Committee in 1842 and, for its
better understanding of the general question, it desired Thomas
Pumphrey, with the assistance of Robert Whitaker, to draw up
a schedule of the work done on both sides of the house in those
departments. As very few of the boys and girls of this date did
not extensively participate in the duties represented in the
paper drawn up on this occasion, we have supposed it would
interest many of them to be reminded, by a copy of it, of the
manifold services of an old Ackworth Scholar. To more modern
ears, some apology is perhaps due for the introduction of a
document full of enigmatical matter and terms almost forgotten.'
" ACCOUNT OF DUTIES PERFORMED BY THE CHILDREN.
BOYS.
" I. Dining Room Waiter. — Four boys nearly all their play fime and two
quarter hours daily in school time. Changed every fortnight.
" 2. Washers. — Two boys employed every morning for about half an hour
and twice a week in the evening for the same time, to attend to the
arrangements connected with the boys' washing. In play hours only.
"3. Tailor'' s Waiter. — One boy employed twice a day for a week at a time
in finding boys who have to change their clothes, which have been
mended.
"4. Shoemaker'' s Waiter. — Similarly employed as above, but rather more
frequently. In play hours only.
"5. Shed Sweepers. — Four boys employed for about two hours on Fourth
and Seventh Day afternoons, in play time, in sweeping the shed,
colonnade, stable-yard, channels, &c., in various parts of the premises.
"5. Garden Sweepers. — Three boys employed about two hours on Seventh
Day afternoon for eight months in the year, Play time only.
232
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
"7. Shoe Ckaners— Eight boys, two to three hours on Seventh Day
afternoon (play time) in blacking and polishing boys' shoes, and two
or three hours on Second Day, principally in school hours.
"8. JiTni/e Cleaners. —Eight boys, two to three hours on Seventh Day
afternoon (play time) in cleaning boys' and girls' knives.
"9. Baik Cleaners.— Vom boys, employed two at a time every morning
during the season, (five or six months) for about an hour in play time,
to clean out the Bath. Only one third of the boys eligible.
" 10. Bread Carriers. — Two boys for four hours, generally twice, sometimes
three times a week or oftener, in the general assistance of the baker.
They are also employed about three hours every other Seventh Day
in carrying hot water for boys' ablutions. Partly school and partly
play-hours.
" II. Washing Mill Boy.—Ont boy to assist the hovise-man at the washing-
mill every Third Day from 5 o'clock a.m. to 7 p.m. Thirty or forty
boys eligible.
" 12. Churners. — Four boys, employed two at a time, twice a week. In
school-time.
" 13. Door Keepers. — Two boys to ring the bell, kindle the fires in the office
and lodge, attend on the Superintendent, finding boys for him, going
errands into the village, to Pontefract, &c. A post of honour and
confidence, but of much labour. A permanent office.
" 14. Sheet Carriers. — Four strong boys employed about half-an-hour on
Seventh Day evenings, after reading, in gathering up shirts and stock-
ings for the washing and about an hour on Second Day mornings in
giving out and exchanging sheets and bolster-cases. Very heavy
work. Play-time.
"15. Morning Waiter. — Two stout boys to assist the house-man in the boys'
chambers, about an hour and a half daily, and two hours on Seventh
Day afternoon. Play-hours.
"16. Bed Rollers. — Four boys about three quarters of an hour (one quarter
school time) twice a week to move the beds when the chambers are
swept, and occasionally for five or six hours when they are washed.
"17. Manglers. — Two boys every Fourth Day during Winter.
"18. School S%aeepers. — About eighteen boys sweep and dust the Schools,
open windows, fetch coals, keep and arrange books, slates, &c.,
&c. Play-time. A post of honour. Duties frequent, but not heavy.
A permanent office.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 233
' 19. Hair Teazers. — Twelve boys frequently. Play-time.
' 20. Stocking Menders. — Six boys every week from Fourth Day, middle of
the day, to Sixth Day evening, in running stocking-heels, &c. About
forty-eight boys first on the List are employed. It consequently comes
to their turn once in eight weeks.
' 21, Boys employed at the Garden. — Four boys constantly, in school time
and play-time and, in ' crop time, ' often six or eight. In summer,
twelve to twenty or upwards (volunteers) on holiday afternoons.
Employment various, from the heavier labours of digging and wheel-
ing, forking manure, &c., to hoeing, weeding, gathering sticks, &c.
Gooseberries, currants, and other small fruit, also peas, beans, &c.,
gathered in school-time by a whole school or large section of one, and
occupies a good deal of time in the season. The garden labours are
very useful to the gardener and are considered a privilege by most of
the boys.
' 22. Hay-making. — For three or four weeks, occasionally for a much longer
time, the regular school duties are so much interrupted by this
employment as almost to be set aside.
'23. Occasional Employments. — Assisting the carpenter — but seldom. When
baker or house-man is from, home, many of their duties are entirely
performed by boys. Two boys assist in moving the desks, &c.,
out of the school-rooms four or five times a year, when they are
washed, and, once a year, the forms out of the Meeting-house.
" GENERAL STATEMENT.
" In school-hours.
" Hay-making, each boy about
" Garden, fruit-gathering 1?
"Ditto, other work n
" Domestic duties „
' Total in school hours
7 days
5 „
16 „
5 "
33 „
"/k play- hours.
" Principally in domestic operations... ... ... ... II 11
' ' Total time occupied by each boy per ann. in scl|ool and
play hours combined ... ... ... ... ... 44 days.
•■' GIRLS.
" I. Superintendent's Waiter. — One girl for a week in play-hours and about
two hours daily in school hours.
234
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
"2. Parlour Waiters.— T^o girls to wait in the housekeeper's room and
assist the housekeeper for a fortnight at a time. One of them all her
time, the other all her play-time and for two hours daily in school-time.
" 3. Dining Room Waiters.— Your: girls in play-time for a week.
"4. Sheet Mender. —One girl all her time for three days. Changes weekly.
" 5. Shirt Menders.— Zhi girls three days (three of them four days to assist
in the washing) employed both in and out of school, and two girls who
assist them only in play-hours. Change weekly.
" 6, Mantua Maker's Assistant.— One girl all her time for a week.
" 7. Constant Menders.— Tvfo girls five days for a week.
" 8. Menders. — Six girls all their school time and nearly all their play-time,
from P'ourth Day morning to Seventh Day noon.
"9. Room Sweefers. — Six girls (four of whom are out of school each Second
Day morning till 11 o'clock.) Employed in play-hours daily about
an hour.
" 10. Pie Makers. — Two girls to assist two mornings in each week in school-
time.
"II. Two girls to assist in washing the young children and in cleaning the
Wing, a quarter of an hour every morning and the whole of two even-
ings weekly. Play-hours.
" 12. Laundress' Assistants.— 'Poor girls on Fourth Day afternoon. Play-
hours.
" 13. Paring Potatoes. — All the girls who are not in other offices, six morn-
ings ill the week, half an hour before the morning school.
" 14. Occasional Employments. — The girls' provide the coals for the school-
room fires, which they make and mend. They keep the school-rooms
in order, and some of the older ones occasionally assist the Wing-maid,
' chamber-maids, &c. They are much employed in topping and tailing
gooseberries, shelling peas and beans, cutting and paring apples, &c. ,
during the season. They sweep the flags of their play-ground once a
week in fine weather, and have numerous other incidental employments
of a domestic nature, but which it would be difficult to particularize.''
The Committee does not appear to have taken any action on
the receipt of this document, being probably satisfied that the
duties therein specified were all of a character salutary to the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 235
individual and useful, economically, to the Institution. It
displayed a similar interest in the unofficial pursuits of the
Apprentices, also, about this time, especially in their recreations.
In 1840 it had questioned whether their out-door exercises were
of a sufficiently robust and interesting character and, by way of
encouraging them to the practice of manual labour, it recom-
mended that a plot of land should be placed at their service for
garden-ground, at the top of the Washing Mill Field. These
plots were greatly valued by some of the apprentices and as
grievously neglected by others. Those of the former bloomed
with roses and brought forth productive crops' of vegetables to
the enrichment of the cultivators ; those of the latter, like the
garden of the sluggard, were a by-word and source of mockery
to all who beheld them but especially to Wm. Cammage the
farm bailiff, who, loath to see so much good grass-land running
to waste, lost no opportunity for jeering at the luckless owners.
In 1843 the Committee renewed its attention to the welfare of
the apprentices — devoting considerable time to the question of
their health, their mental and moral training and the mode in
which their leisure was spent. This discussion led to the prac-
tice of receiving annual reports of the state of the apprentices.
These investigations were doubtless due to the disturbed
state of the mind of the Committee in reference to the
unsatisfactory condition of the Boys' school and its growing
unpopularity among Friends generally. The Examining Com-
mittee had just reported the conduct of the boys low, " owing
it would seem to the injurious influence of two or three of the
elder boys." The small number of boys on the list for admission
indicated, for a long period, that something was wrong. For
the more certain yet unostentatious search into the causes of
the unsatisfactory state of that side of the School, a select
Committee of six Friends — Samuel Tuke, Joseph Rowntree,
John Rowntree, William Taylor, Thomas Harvey, and Joseph
Firth — was appointed to take the investigation in charge and
236 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
to report at its discretion. The London Committee was
desired to nominate a few of its members to unite with these
Friends in the service. That Committee did not bring in its
matured report until 1846, when the tide of popularity had, in
some measure, returned and the boys' side was once more full ;
but its active labours in the interim, combined with the action
of the General Committee in various directions, taken often
at the advice of this select Committee, had borne their fruits.
Every department had felt the gentle but resolved pressure of
its probing spirit. Its influences were felt all along the line,
long before it reported its operations; and the complement
reached in the number of boys, when its report was issued,
was, without doubt, largely the result of its activity. Nothing
so forcibly awakened the anxieties of the Committee, in the
first instance, as the striking comparison between the popularity
of the boys' and girls' departments. For fifty years from the
commencement of the School, when the maximum number for
boys was 180, the complement was, with the exception of a few
rare occasions due mostly to illness, steadily maintained. The
Fever of 1828 depressed the number to 159 but it rose the
following year to 173. In the autumn of 183 1 the School was
full ; but fever again thinned the number and for many years
it seldom reached 160, whilst in 1836 it ran down to 140.
There was, in 1837-8, a brief flush, carrying the number up to
170, but, from that time until 1846, it never reached that
number again. During the three or four years immediately
preceding 1836, when Hannah Richardson took the post of
governess, there was no heavy run on the Girls' school — the
number on the " List for admission " being usually very low
and, at one time none. But after Hannah Richardson's worth
. had become recognised, which it was speedily, and during the
years of depression on the Boys' side, the girls were always full
and the number on the " List " heavy. For some years the
number, in the School and on the " List " combined, was
greater than that of the boys similarly treated, although the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 237
complement of the girls was only two-thirds that of the boys.
Thus :—
In 1840 there were i8i Boys and 184 Girls,
rf 1841 If 166 IT 191 11
II 1842 II 166 II 174 II
II 1843 II 150 II 164 II
II 1844 II 150 11 153 „
The Committee naturally concluded that the long run of
popularity enjoyed by the Girls' department was probably due
to its admirable management and that the unpopularity of the
Boys' side arose from bad arrangements or defective organiza-
tion. The monitorial system, it was now allowed, had been a
failure amongst the boys and that failure might have injuriously
affected the numbers ; but, on the other hand, the same system
had long been in vogue amongst the girls without any corres-
pondingly unfavourable influence. Besides, on the system being
abandoned on the boys' side of the house, there had been no
reaction within a reasonable period. Referring to the masters,
the Select Committee observes in its report : " We would freely
and gratefully dwell on much that is excellent in the teaching
and in the teachers — the zeal, the attainments, the high moral
character and religious interest in their charge which mark the
officers of this Institution." But, having admitted so much,
and commendation not being its special business, it proceeded
to give the result of its search for weak points. The want of
due respect from the boys towards the masters and the de-
ficiency of '' kindly relation" between the two, it considered to
be established facts. The Friends composing the Committee
did not doubt, either, that " the standard of moral and intel-
lectual character'' was lower than at some former periods.
Whilst the standard outside the School was increasingly higher,
they believed that Friends generally were dissatisfied with that
within it. Other schools had progressed, Ackworth had lagged
behind. Formerly the result of a comparison would have been
the reverse. The low tone of the School they largely attributed
238 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
to the small number of adult teachers in proportion to the
scholars, the action of which circumstance was to weight the
former unduly with care and anxiety which, in their turn, led
to want of equanimity and its long train of evils— among which
are the impracticability of cultivating close acquaintance with
individuals, and the impossibility of securing hearty loyalty and
obedience. This indifferent obedience being prejudicial to the
moral tone, and moral deterioration being equally certain to
produce indifferent intellectual conditions, they concluded that,
of remedial measures, none was perhaps so immediately appli-
cable as a strengthening of the staff. They further stated, as
their opinion, that " the desire for knowledge, the love of any
pursuit of art or science were, notwithstanding the zealous
efforts of the teachers, small as compared with' some former
periods," They observed that the number of teachers, inclu-
sive of apprentices and the master on duty, was only one to
nineteen boys ; whilst, on the girls' side, exclusive of the gover-
ness and the mantua-maker and mending-mistress, each of
whom often had considerable numbers under her charge, the
number was one to fourteen girls. They, therefore, suggested
that an addition should be made to the staff of adult masters
and that a fifth school should be organised, which should con-
sist of some of the upper boys and which might be stimulative
as well as relieving. Whilst declaring themselves much more
desirous of doing a little well, than of aiming at a wider sphere
which might entail superficiality, they still thought it very
desirable that the curriculum should be made to embrace
Chemistry, Natural Philosophy and, perhaps, French. They
suggested that the " negligent and dirty" habits of many of
the children and the " untidy and dirty state of the boys'
school-rooms" pointed to the importance of having an "efficient
woman Friend " in the Matron's Room, who should make it her
duty to attend to personal and local cleanliness and should
especially make it her care to cultivate the nice habits and the
comfort of the very little boys.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 239
They who knew this period will be conscious that the Com-
mittee took no exaggerated view of the unsatisfactory state of
things. The memory of the bad feeling that existed amongst
large sections of the School must still press like a nightmare
on the minds of many whose misfortune it was to fall on those
unhappy times. The defects pointed out by the report of the
members of the Select Committee will be recognised by many
of that generation as only too tenderly depicted. Their kind
words about the teachers did those officers, indeed, but scant
justice. The graceful geniaUty, the dehcate gentleness, the
almost womanly tenderness and the absolute blamelessness of
a spirit like that of Thomas Brown, — the unselfish labours and
affectionate Christian zeal of the brothers Sewell, — the almost
Herculean efforts of John Newby to inspire some taste for
Hterary culture, some love of art, some sense of the value of
hobbies — and the ability and dignity and the lofty sense of
duty which characterised some of the elder apprentices still
shine down the years. But all these noble elements were
weighted with an incubus that crushed and stifled their in-
fluence amongst a large section of the School. This was the
form and spirit of the out-door discipline. He who adminis-
tered it has gone to his rest amidst the respect and esteem of
those who knew him best, and, long before his day was spent,
he had, like many other strong men, recognised that the
wonderful complexity of child-mind requires more faculties
for its right governance than high-handed repression of its evil
tendencies. Whatever good intention, whatever conscientious
principle underlaid the system which was adopted, its aspect,
in practice, was inconsiderate, capricious, unreasonable. It
appeared to over-ride, rough-shod, whatever did not at once
adapt itself to a machine-like code of law. It appealed to no
noble principle. It subsisted on penalty. Under its influence
the sensitive plant — honour — shrivelled. Its banner seemed to
have but one device — Repression. Order, in its mechanical
sense, was apparently its first and only law. It is needless to
240 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
say that it reaped as it had sowed. Confidence and loyalty
are not the fruits of suspicion and mistrust. The system often
drove boys of spirit into reckless, when it did not force them
into defiant ways. It made cowards, who brooded over their
wrongs and nursed their little hatreds until their souls were
black with venom. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that
under this rtgime there were periods of almost complete stag-
nation of extra-class intellectual aspiration. Boys' minds were
often too much irritated by wrongs, fancied or real, to think of
anything else. Their active brains were often seething with
seditious thought and busy enough when they were supposed
to be idle. The poverty of indoor accommodation during play-
hours greatly complicated the difficulties and aggravated the
evils of the system. In wet weather and dark, cold evenings,
old " Number Two" formed the only sheltered resort of a large
majority of the School. Seventy or eighty boys often crowded
its benches and sometimes as many as a hundred took refuge
in its foul and heated atmosphere. The pursuit of knowledge
or the love of art was not encouraged by the companionship
of a motley multitude, whose presence was only enforced by the
rigours or the wretchedness of the weather outside, and whose
powers of concentration of thought were more at home in
amusing tricks than in serious study. An apprentice was always
on duty there and, if he happened to be at all weak in tact or
disciplinary skill, he often had a very bitter time of it. Had
the mere preservation of the quiet and order which the rules
prescribed for those who frequented the room been his sole
duty, it would not always have been an easy task to perform it
without frequent unpleasant friction ; but, in addition to this
duty, it was customary to impose upon his charge all the dis-
orderly boys — all the malcontent spirits — of the School. The
most common of all punishments, in an age when there was
abundance of it, was standing to a line in this room. Masters
and apprentices sent their class delinquents there. Boys who
misbehaved in the bed-rooms, were late to the collectings, talked
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 24 1
in the dining-room or played pranks out of doors, swelled the
number of irritated minds who were confined there under his
surveillance. With ten, twenty, or thirty boys expiating the
misdeeds of the day by standing to the line with their hands
behind them, the apprentice had a task very comparable to
that of Sisyphus. When these boys had atoned for one offence,
they often began the punishment due for another, and, ere that
was accomplished, they had accumulated others for the ill
execution of the previous ones. The fate of Ixion would
sometimes have been a relief to him who had to insist on the
tale of punishments prescribed by others and necessarily supple-
mented by his own. But if this practice was grievous to the
" apprentice on duty," it was still more mischievous to the
boys. It was a means of generating cumulative irritation and
disorder.
No system of discipline, however bad, would succeed in re-
ducing a hundred and fifty or sixty boys to one common level
of disorder. There are too many graces in a childhood
brought up with so much careful training as had fallen to the
lot of many Ackworth boys at this time to be swamped altogether
in a vortex of unfavouring elements. Throughout the period
a goodly leaven might probably be found, which shrunk from
the surrounding ill-feehng and longed for better times; but
the lives of this class were marked rather by quiet absten-
tion from active participation in, than by bold remonstrance with,
the evil. A few noble spirits always remained to redeem the
general indifference. The limits of this unsatisfactory period
may be rudely defined as ranging from the autumn of 1839 to
that of 1846, but its nucleus rested upon the years 1840 to 1845.
The latter part of 1839 was an exceedingly disorderly time,
characterised by a tendency to great insubordination on the
part of individuals, amongst whom the spirit seemed infectious,
and extending occasionally to more considerable demonstrations
242 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
of it. Its effect was very pernicious. The decorous habits
of the School were seriously affected by it; and the year 1840
became marked by much practice of sly, underhand mischief.
Breaking windows, disfiguring walls, wilful and deliberate abuse
of property generally, including much damage to the gardens
of little or more orderly boys, became seriously prevalent.
Many boys became designedly troublesome, and a very
culpable carelessness and recklessness crept over the masses.
Much punishment was necessary, not only of individuals, but
of the whole School. One boy was very severely flogged ; but
the discipline was not corrective. Within three weeks his
conduct was again so disgraceful that he was treated in a very
exceptional manner. He was not only confined in the Light and
Airy Rooms, on a bread-and-water diet, but he was kept there
both day and night. The disaffection unfortunately spread
amongst the monitors, whose conduct became very unsatis-
factory. Two of them behaved so badly that they were con-
fined in the Light and Airy Rooms. There was a serious disin-
tegration of fine feeling, and, worse than that, much want of
respect for sacred things.
The following year, things were temporarily somewhat better.
The "Association,'' which had slumbered for more than two
years, was revived pn the 3rd of Third Month, 1841 — the
twentieth anniversary of its origin. All its old members had
passed away ; but four honorary members invited forty-four of
the boys to meet them, on that day, and thirty of them
were enrolled as members. During the following twelve
months, there was a good deal of activity in the little society.
Many essays were produced, the penning of which must
have drawn considerable energy into useful channels. But
perhaps the best work of the year lay in the evening meetings
held for Readings, Familiar Lectures and Examinations, of
Scientific Questions or interesting articles from the shelves of
the Society's Cabinet. The most attractive of these gatherings
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 243
were some occupied by John Newby in a series of chatty
lectures based on Catlin's new work on the North American
Indians. William Allen Miller was present on one of these
evenings and gave an interesting account of the Electric
Telegraph, During' his visit to Ackworth on this occasion he
gave a course of three delightful lectures to the elder boys and
girls on " Pneumatic Chemistry," and a fourth, to the whole
School, comprising the leading particulars of the course.
In the middle of this year, Thomas Smithson left School.
Throughout his career he had preserved a remarkably straight-
forward, upright and manly way of life. He had won the
respect and esteem of all his school-fellows as well as those
of his teachers. Free from every particle of affectation of
goodness, a boy amongst boys, his example must have been
an incalculable benefit to many around him. The day on
which he left, or the one preceding it, Thomas Pumphrey and
the Masters, wishful to show their high appreciation of his
character and services, gave the boys, along with much ap-
propriate and seasonable counsel, a half-holiday in his
honour.
Unhappily neither the efforts of those who laboured to
restore the prestige of the Association, nor the example of a
few noble lives, sufficed to do more than give a temporary check
to the unsatisfactory state of the School referred to above.
Eighteen Forty-Two witnessed more than a return of the bad
feeling, the grumbling, the disaffection and disorder of 1840.
The boys' language reflected the unsatisfactory state of the
general mind. Acts of wilful damage, cruelty to the young and
weak, low and vulgar pursuits, became lamentably common.
There were five or six excessively wrong-headed boys who,
under another form of discipline, would probably have been, if
not much more reasonable, certainly more powerless. Under a
happier government they would have received but little of that
R 2
244 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
sympathy from their school-fellows which fed their low ambi-
tion. Our readers, who love so tenderly the old School, will,
we trust, bear with us whilst we thus glance, as rapidly and as ten-
derly as is consistent with truth, at its darker period. The records
of the School do not throw any brighter light over the following
three years. They add much dishonesty tothelist of offences; they
record, what all of that time remember well, much disgraceful
conduct in meetings for worship ; but no records that we find
give an adequate picture of the unsatisfactory state of the School
about 1843, as we remember it. A perpetual state of smoulder-
ing iimtiny scarcely exaggerates the description of it. In 1844,
after the boys had been forbidden from their own gardens, in
consequence of numerous instances of apple-stealing, and the
Masters' Meeting had recorded " the extensive use of profane
language in the private conversation of the boys, some of the
Monitors and many other boys being implicated," the Teachers,
who must have been at their wits' end to know how to deliver
themselves from the flood of unsavoury practices that had come
into their midst, hit upon the idea of enrolling a sort of Legion
of Honour, which should aid them in raising the moral and dis-
ciplinary tone of the School. Considering that unity is strength,
and desiring to win the allegiance of a set of the elder boys to a
right life and a good example, they began by constituting a
privileged guild which was called the " Orderly Class." Unfor-
tunately, those who became members of it were not expected to
" win their spurs" by deeds that shewed a strong arm and well-
tempered courage. They were chosen from amongst those whose
lives had been most inoffensive; and their sinews were prepared
for the campaign against error by being nurtured with gifts of
little plots of ground in the Office Garden for the cultivation of
their flowers. This arrangement was made in the early months
of 1845. It was a luckless experiment. Things grew worse
rather than better, until, two or three months after the " Orderly
Class" was organized, affairs culminated in a crisis which
cleared the air a little. The boys, being in a wild, unsettled way,
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 245
practised great disorder in the bed-rooms, which the Monitors
failed to report quite honestly. These boy-guardians of the
public discipline were, for this delinquency, deprived of certain
privileges pertaining to their order. This they resented in a
bold, lawless manner, which had a very evil influence upon the
disaffected classes of the School, who burned to imitate their
example ; and, a week afterwards, the following entry occurs in
the minutes of the Masters' Meeting : — " Some insubordinate
conduct on the part of the Monitors, in consequence of the
restrictions laid upon them some days back, led to rather an
extensive display of a similar disposition in the School at large.
The disorder was speedily suppressed, and there have been no
subsequent symptoms of the like nature."
Such is the brief record of an event which had lasting influ-
ences. How it worked we are not precisely informed ; but it
opened many eyes to the grave evils of a pressure which had
borne heavily on all classes. The vested interests of long prestige
were broken through. A change set in. Even schoolboys could
feel that some power had interposed. Thomas Pumphrey's
hand had fallen heavily on the School, but the School supposed
it had also fallen heavily elsewhere and that he had at last
himself seized the rein's of a department with which he did
not usually meddle in public. A brighter day had . dawned for
the Ackworth boy and, although the accumulated stains of
years were not to be washed out in a day, the atmosphere he
breathed was never again to be so hopelessly heavy.
In 1845 the spirit of the school had decidedly improved but
the order remained very indifferent, especially towards the close
of the year when " there was much want of care in the general
behaviour of a pretty large number of boys." Even when one of
those welcome visits of Samuel Gurney took place, and he gave
sixpence to each of the children, the Masters felt that they
could only grant his request for a half-holiday to a por.tion
246 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
of the boys, the rest being kept in durance in discharge of
accumulated penalties.
Fifty-two children had been allowed to take vacations in
1844, and the desire was rapidly increasing, amongst parents, to
have their children home for holidays. In First Month 1845,
the Committee, foreseeing an increase of interruption from
this cause, gave the subject close consideration and left the
further enquiry into it to the Examining Committee for the
following spring. That Committee reported that it was not
prepared to recommend any change in the practice which had
been in vogue for nine or ten years, of allowing holidays to
children who had not been home for two years, beyond that of
an extension of the privilege to those who had been eighteen
months in the school. But the question was beginning to
attract attention outside the Committee. Edward West of
Banbury — then of Warrington — championed the cause of the
Ackworth Scholar with much zeal and warmth, and undoubtedly
helped it forward, by , rousing, to the appreciation of their
advantages, many who might have otherwise remained luke-
warm towards general vacations. The subject was discussed
with much interest in the General Meeting of this year, and the
Committee was requested to investigate the desirability of
periodical holidays, by seeking the opinion of parents, agents
and others, and to report the following year. Circulars having
been issued to the agents, requesting information on special
points bearing on the general question, the returns were sum-
marised in the following form : —
3 cases were reported of children having no homes.
10 » !) >i >) in which vacations would be objectionable
on pecuniary grounds.
29 )) >i >> >) in which they would be objectionable
from other causes.
37 Agents report difficulties in respect of travelling expenses; but many of
them do not state the number of cases to which they apply.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 247
28 Agents, recommending 118 children, report no pecuniary difficulties ; of
these, eleven are agents recommending 57 children from Yorkshire.
24 Agents report in favour of an annual vacation.
32 ,, ,, ,, ,, biennial ,,
8 ,, ,, against either.
4 Furnish no reply.
67 Children are reported as paid for wholly or principally by Monthly
Meetings.
20 Children are reported as assisted from School or other Funds.
From these statistics, or from those on which this summary
was based, the Committee concluded that " the great majority
of parents were not desirous of fixed annual vacations ;" and,
had it been guided solely by this consideration, it would
probably have given its voice against them, especially as it
suspected that the labour and the expense, particularly in the
item of clothing, would be very great. Happily, Thomas
Pumphrey, upon whom the pressure of an experimental holiday
would chiefly fall, yet who had always cordially supported the
movement, was able to point out two circumstances which
proved of great weight in favour of it. He reminded the Com-
mittee that optional vacations had greatly increased in number
and had begun to affect the working of the classes unfavourably.
He apprehended that the agitation in existence outside would
materially extend the demand for them, if the periodical form
were not introduced, in which case the efficient and satisfactory
working of the classes, throughout the summer months, would
be seriously interfered with. He also referred to the incon-
venience and disturbance attendant upon the practice, then
necessarily in operation, of each teacher being absent from his
class three weeks in the year, during which his duties must be
performed by proxy. These argunaents weighed no little with
the Committee which, although it did not commit itself to a
recommendation of the scheme, suggested to the General
Meeting that, i/ the experiment were to be tried, it should
be put into execution as early as possible after the
248 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
General Meeting of 1847. The supreme authority resolved to
carry out this suggestion. The number of optional vacations of
1845 and 1846 fully justified the Superintendent's fears respect-
ing their increase, being in the former year 59, in the latter, 103 ;
thus proving that some modification of the system was im-
peratively needed.
The number of fatal accidents amongst the inmates of the
establishment has been, we should imagine, very small in pro-
portion to the ten thousan'd who have passed through it. In
1831, a boy was killed by the fall of some cart-shelvings, whilst
he was assisting the farmer. And in more recent days, one of
the apprentices —Henry Reynolds Neave — was fatally injured,
by the breakage of a leaping pole, whilst vaulting over the hori-
zontal bar. He was " a young man of great promise," and the
following interesting paragraph was penned respecting his end,
by the Clerk of the Committee. He lived twenty-eight hours
after the accident, "enduring much pain with great patience
and leaving behind him touching evidence that the all-important
work of repentance and reconciliation with God had not been
neglected in the days of youth and health. His remarkable
readiness to meet this sudden summons, with peace and even
joy, was felt to be a deeply solemn and instructive lesson both
to those who were present and the whple family." The event
occurred in Eight Month, 1864. But perhaps the most melan-
choly of these sad occurrences was the death, by burning, of one
of the girls. It is supposed that, whilst playing with' the fire, in a
room by herself, her dress caught fire. She immediately rushed
out into the passage, enveloped in flames, which were ex-
tinguished by counterpanes, but not before she was so fearfully
scorched that she died within eight hours. This deeply affect-
ing accident occurred in the year of which we are now writing,
1845. In this year also died, under very different circumstances,
from the effect of measles, Mennel Stickney. His end, which
was one of perfect peace, was associated with circumstances
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 249
of considerable interest to his immediate companions; and a
little memoir of his latter days was published at the time.
One of the pleasantest features of the years 1844 — 1847 was
the number of lectures by professional men with which the
children were favoured. Of these a course of four on Elec-
tricity, Pneumatics, &c., by William Richardson, twice de-
livered during this period, was greatly enjoyed by the
children. The lecturer had something of the Yorkshire
dialect, which gave an interesting flavour to his speech ; his
experiments were brilliant and uniformly successful, and his
apparatus, all made by himself, and gorgeous with polished
brass, was superb. Of this he was naturally very proud,
and not infrequently referred to its superiority, which led
Thomas Pumphrey one day to remark to him gaily, " Thy idols
are brazen, William." The observation appeared to give the
lecturer uhmingled pleasure. Dr. Murray was another great
favourite. He gave three courses during this period, the first
being one of seven lectures on Chemistry ; the second, one of
four on the Physiology of Plants ; and the third, a series of four
on Chemical Affinity and Agricultural Chemistry. William
Freeston gave two lectures on Natural History ; Daniel Mackin-
tosh two on Geology ; J. H. Buck a course on Physical Geo-
graphy, illustrated by means of drawings shown by the oxy-
hydrogen light ; and Edward Brayley five on Igneous Geology.
Some of the chemical lectures were followed up by others on
similar topics by Samuel Hare, who was then the clerk ; and
the teachers themselves swelled the number of pubUc lectures,
much to the gratification as well as the instruction of the chil-
dren, to whom scientific teaching in class was at that time but
little known.
Another improvement, referable to this period, was the intro-
duction of an important change in the mode of ascertaining the
state of the children's studies. Hitherto the examinations had
250 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
been conducted orally ; and had been confessedly weak as a test
of the standard of education in vogue. Attention was in the
first instance definitely called to the defects of the system by
the reading of a paper on " The Common Schools of America,"
by James Hack Tuke, before the Educational Society at its
meeting in 1845. Whilst on a visit to the United States during
the previous year, the author had given much attention to the
systems of education in operation in that country and espe-
cially to that of the class of schools a description of which
formed the subject of his paper. In describing these, he called
particular attention to the practice of examining the children by
requiring them to answer papers of questions in writing, and
discussed its advantages. The Ackworth Committee, perceiving
the applicability of the system to their own school, invited James
Hack Tuke, shortly afterwards, to assist in making arrangements
for its introduction. Accompanied by John Ford, he met the
teachers in conference. The modern mind is so familiar with
the advantages of methods of examination which embrace at
least some work on paper, that it may seem almost incredible
that the introduction of the system should not have been
accepted at once as a self-evident improvement on the wholly
oral method ; but, strange to say, the proposal to introduce the
foreign element met with a stout resistance from the conserva-
tism of some of the elder teachers, led by John Newby. Happily,
Thomas Pumphrey recognised the virtue of the system and,
supporting it with tact and firmness, the experiment of its intro-
duction was resolved upon. The method was speedily acknow-
ledged, both by the teachers and the public, to possess great
advantages.
The Select Committee, which in 1846 reported on the causes
which had operated to diminish the number of boys, having
proposed an additional school, the Committee appointed a
number of Friends to take the consideration of the matter in
charge. This appointment initiated a great building era. The
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 25 1
Friends upon it boldly proposed either to erect school and class-
rooms over the whole length of the great shed, which is 139 feet
long by 181^ feet wide, and to turn the old Grammar School,
alias " Number Two," into a play-room ; or to turn the old
Meeting-house into school-rooms, first raising the whole of the
boys' wing four or five feet to secure the improved atmosphere
of its first-floor rooms, and to build a new Meeting-house. The
latter plan having been adopted, it was further resolved to
build a row of houses on the Pontefract Road, opposite to the
boys' shed, for officers and masters, and a larger house at the
top of the " great garden " for a residence for the principal
master. It was also arranged to remove the high wall sepa-
rating the boys' shed-court from their gardens, substituting for
it an iron palisade. For carrying out these extensive schemes,
the public were asked to provide ;^3ooo; and in Seventh Month
of the same year orders were given to proceed at once with the
houses on the Pontefract Road and with the new Meeting-house,
which it had been determined should be erected on the site
of the old houses occupied by the farmer and the tailor,
the old stables adjoining and part of the stable yard.
By First Month, 1847, the amount subscribed towards the
Building Fund was ;^3649 los., and the following contracts
were entered into : —
Building House and Shop for the Tailor, a Dwelling-house \ £ s. d.
for the Farmer, Coach-house, Granary, and Stables, for > 822 8 4
the sum of " ;
The Erection of a new Meeting-house, Raising the Roof of \
the Boys' Wing, Converting the old Meeting-house into > 2,905 13 8
apartments, &c. - - - ;
The scheme was considerably extended by the erection of a
house for John Newby, another for John Walker, the baker, and
the master's house at the top of the garden ; and the total cost
of this extensive building operation amounted to ;£8424. This
252 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
included also the forming of a new suite of apartments for the
Superintendent out of the old Study, the Fruit Room, the
Light and Airy Rooms, &c. ; the enlargement of one of the
houses at the bottom of the garden and that of the Office ; the
construction of the large vestibule and the erection of new
shoe-maker's and tailor's shops.
Prompted, probably, by the Report on the state of the School
already referred to, and a^ded by the suggestive theories of
William Thistlethwaite, who had a few months previously
become one of the staff, the masters, in the autumn of 1846,
proposed a scheme of sweeping changes in the arrangement of
the classes. The plan laid before the Committee for its con-
sideration suggested that all the boys should be graded by their
attainments into nine classes, each of which should be placed
under a master or apprentice, who — and who alone — should be
held primarily responsible for the conduct of its studies. It was
adopted by the Committee, and came into operation at once.
John Newby became the teacher of the Ninth or highest class,
whilst William Thistlethwaite took the post of Master on Duty.
The change infused new life into the teaching department and
increased the boys' spirit for study by the stimulating influence
of its more numerous progressive steps. The following year the
number of classes was increased to ten. Nothing had been
introduced for many years, probably, which gave such an
impetus to the mental aspirations of the boys. The junior
classes, under the younger apprentices, were taught in the rooms
where the adult masters had their classes, in order that some
superintendence might be exercised over them by the senior
masters. This was the weak point in the scheme when it came
into operation. Justice to his own class prevented the master
from doing more than support the young teacher in the disci-
pline, whilst the latter, from lack of experience, greatly needed
advising and training, not only in the art of governing, but in
that of educating the young. To remedy in some degree this
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 253
defect, these classes were consigned to the surveillance of the
Master on Duty. It will be readily understood that it was
impossible for that officer to devote much time to five classes in
as many different rooms. From the first, the masters had
always maintained that, to render the scheme successful, it
would be necessary that one of them should devote himself
entirely to these young teachers and their classes. When the
study of French was introduced into the two highest classes in
1850, the Committee saw that the rudimentary courses of the
lower classes must be worked more effectively than hitherto or
that the English studies would suffer a declension in quality in the
upper, and resolved to meet the demand for greater efficiency
in the conduct of the younger part of the School by appointing
Thomas Puplett to the superintendence of the four junior
classes, comprising about forty-four boys. This arrangement
proved a great advantage to the younger apprentices, an ines-
timable blessing to the boys under their charge, and a fruitful
means of raising the general tone of the rising generation of
the School.
In 1846 Hannah Richardson retired from the post she had
for ten years filled with so large an amount of success, and her
place was taken by Jane Oddie, who occupied it only for a short
period, when Mary Ann Speciall entered upon its duties early
in 1850.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DISCIPLINE — WILLIAM THISTLETHWAITE THOMAS HASLAM
HENRY WILSON FIRST GENERAL VACATION — GRAtlUATED
SCALE OF TERMS NEW WATER WORKS — ANALYSIS OF THE
WATER — STYLE OF THE READING PROFESSOR GREENBANK
BUILDING OPERATIONS IN THE WEST WING STATE OF THE
EDUCATION boys' LIBRARY IMPROVED — SCARLATINA THE
"canal" QUESTION THOMAS BROWN RETIRES THOMAS
PUMPHREY ON RELIGIOUS TRAINING — ADDRESS TO PARENTS
ON THE IGNORANCE OF SCRIPTURE AMONGST CHILDREN
ENTERING SCHOOL — ADMIRABLE STATE OF THE DISCIPLINE —
HIGH PRICE OF PROVISIONS SWIMMING BATH — ADDITIONAL
WATER WORKS — ANALYSIS — BOYS' PLAY-GROUND ASPHALTED.
The modern class-system quickly bore some good fruits, in
consequence of the increased personal influence the masters
were enabled, by it, to bring upon their sections of the School.
Unfortunately the out-door discipline did not improve pari
passu. Its direction had fallen into hands inexperienced in the
management of large masses ; and, whilst informed with liberal
and generous theories of government, its occupant did not
remain in the post long enough to apply them with success.
Hence, whilst the moral tone of the School was beginning to
rise, public out-door order literally collapsed. Subsequently to
the retirement of William Thistlethwaite and the arrival of
Henry Wilson to assume the office of Master on Duty, its
functions were temporarily performed by one of the class-
masters — Thomas Haslam. His resolute will and keen sense
of order and obedience quickly converted a tangle of confusion
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 255
into a perfect machine. On Henry Wilson's advent, the Com-
mittee testified its appreciation of the work of Thomas Haslam
by voting him a gratuity " in acknowledgment of his efficient
services." Henry Wilson entered at the beginning of 1848.
He at once made his mark upon the School, by initiating a
policy full of wise reasonableness, by exercising a generous con-
fidence in the good sense and good feeling of the boys, by
freely participating in their little interests, by skilfully turning
their energies into safe channels and by his fertility of resource for
the treatment of the varied minds committed to his training hand.
Loyalty to the School and to what was right and true rapidly
increased, and the records of the Masters' Meeting, from being
annals of misconduct, became, from 1848, a register of lectures,
of the establishment of societies, of arrangements for the pleasure
or advantage of the boys, of the extension of the hbrary, of the
consideration of the studies, &c.
The influence of the introduction of the Annual Vacation
was undoubtedly powerful for good. The 27 th of Seventh
Month, 1847, is one of the most memorable red-letter days in
the calendar of Ackworth School. On that lovely morning the
School, for the first time in its long history of nearly seventy
years, " broke up." The arrangements for such an exodus fell,
of course, upon Thomas Pumphrey, whose foresight had pro-
vided for every contingency. There was not a hitch in any
department of the day's proceedings. Several wagons, each
carrying thirty to forty children, all provided with tilts and
seats, drew up about seven o'clock in the morning to receive
their first cargoes of boys and girls, the former in new " cloth or
plush caps,'' the latter in ''plain Tuscan bonnets.'' At half-
past seven, amidst the ringing cheers of the whole School, the
first detachment was despatched to the railway station. They
who went farthest started earliest, but all had left by one
o'clock, except one little homeless orphan boy, for whom a
pleasant lodging was provided with Robert and Mary Graham
256 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
at the Low Farm. The railway companies had all agreed to carry
the children by second class at the rate of a penny a mile. A
care-taker accompanied each of the larger parties and was, in
some instances, allowed by the companies to travel free. The
cost to the Institution of the travelling, including the penny per
mile to all parents who desired to accept it, was about ;^i5o.
As soon as the children had left, the house was given over to
builders and painters, whitewashers and char-women. For forty-
four years " no general internal painting had been done."
The expenditure of 1847 having exceeded the income by
;^i,262 14s. 2d., the Committee instituted a careful inquiry into
the causes of the excess. The income had not been materially
less than the average of the five previous years, but provisions
had been high, and the experimental vacation had entailed
considerable expense. To these two causes was attributable
about one-half .the deficit. The other half was the result of
fresh forms of expenditure which had every appearance of a
permanent character — increase in salaries and in the number of
the teachers being the chief. It appeared necessary, therefore,
that this proportion of the increase, at least, should be met by
some steady source of supply and it was resolved to adopt,
instead of the uniform charge of ^10 per annum for each child,
a graduated scale payment. Retaining the ;^io term, the
Committee proposed that Friends who could afford a higher
amount should be asked to pay ;^is or ^20, according to their
ability. The proposal having obtained the sanction of the
Yearly Meeting, it was put into effect in the Summer of 1848,
and in the Autumn of that year Thomas Pumphrey reported
that, in reply to his circular on the subject, he had received
information from the parents of children in the School or on the
list for admission that
65 Children would be paid for at the rate of £20 per annum.
'°8 .. .. „ £\i
191 .. ., ,, £\o „
364
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 257
producing an average of ;^i3 5 s. 6d. per child, and an increase
of income from this source, on 290 children, of ;£95o. Although
the cost of provisions was low in 1848 and the health of the
School was good, the expenditure again exceeded the income by
;^i,402. In 1849, in spite of extremely low prices — meat being
contracted for during one quarter at ss. sd. per stone of fourteen
pounds, andduring another at 5s. 2d. — the balance was still on the
wrong side. The constant rise in the cost of the teaching depart-
ment was found to be the principal cause of the deficiency ; and
the Committee again resorted to an increase in the terms, foresee-
ing that there was no probability of this item of expenditure de-
creasing. That it was this rapidly-increasing item which
accounted for the excess of expenditure, and not any extrava-
gance in the food or clothing departments, the Committee
established by a comparison of the cost of various sections of
the expenditure in 1849 with the same in periods considerably
remote, in the following manner : —
Average of s years
Ending 1829.
Average of 5 years
Ending 1834.
In 1849.
Clothing per child
••■ .^303
£3 6 7
£2 19 10
PrOTisions, washing,
&c. 9 18 10
9 19 8
8 17 9
Salaries and wages
322
390
5 17 S
Furniture, repairs, &c
... 2 II 5
2 13 3
2 18
Taxes and insurance
024
025
066
.^18 IS
£19 10 II
;£'20 19 6
Considering that all classes of the community ought to con-
tribute in some measure to defray the cost of a department of so
great import to the efficiency of the School, the Committee now
raised the lowest payment to ;£i2, the ^^15 payment to ;^i6,
and the ;^2o payment to ;^2i ; and at these figures the terms
remained for fifteen years.
We have already seen that the water supply was not infre-
quently uncertain. Again in 1845 the Bell-close spring, which
formerly had sent down 1,200 gals, a day, was reported to furnish
258 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
only 100. In the Autumn, however, the supply approached
the old amount and the Committee, thinking that the deficiency
had probably arisen from the drought of 1844, took no action
for mcreasing the supply. In 1851, however, the water having
again failed, it was resolved to seek a fresh source by boring in
the Washing Mill Field. On reaching a depth of 100 feet a
spring was tapped which projected its waters to within st few feet
of the surface. The boring was then continued to a total depth
of 140 feet. The strata through which it passed were as follow : —
Clay 12 ft. 6 in.
Sandstone 14 ft. o in.
Shale 2 ft. o in.
Sandstone 5 ft. o in.
Clay 7 ft. o in.
Sandstone 3 ft. o in.
Clay 14 ft. o in.
Sandstone 18 ft. o in.
Shale 6 ft. o in.
Sandstone 46 ft. o in.
Clay 7 ft. o in.
Shale 2 ft. o in.
Sandstone
An analysis of the water by Joseph Spence, of York, gave
50 grains of solid matter to the gallon,
" 44 of which could be dissolved in distilled water, the. remainder being clay,
with a trace of organic matter. Of the 44 grains nearly 10 were common
salt and 34 carbonate of soda, with a little sulphate and oxide of iron. The
water proved perfectly sweet at every stage of the process of evaporation.
It is obviously suitable for domestic use and particularly' so for washing.
On account of the absence of the sulphate of iron, lead would be acted upon
by it and therefore pipes and cisterns of that metal should be avoided."
The analysis being thought satisfactory, the rate of supply
was tested. But, in order to prevent the water in the upper
strata mingling with the lower spring water, the bore was first
enlarged to a diameter of eight inches and lined with cast-iron
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 259
pipes down to the thick bed of sandstone, a depth of 80 ft. A
large pump was then appHed to the bore and worked by the
horse-mill. In eight hours and-a-half, 27,000 gallons had been
raised, without lowering the water more than about a foot in the
bore. At the commencement of the operation the water stood
about eight feet from the surface and, after it, within nine feet —
but it did not really fall at all during the last six hours of the
pumping. It was therefore considered practically proved to be
capable of supplying 80,000 gallons a day. An engine of four
horse power was put down and the water was conveyed in a
four-inch cast-iron main to a cistern over the centre capable of
containing about 1 1,000 gallons.
In 1852 the works were completed. The supply was reported
to be abundant. A second analysis was made by Joseph Spence
which gave 5 1 grains of solid matter to the gallon — viz. ; car-
bonate of soda, 47 ; potash, traces; Ume, 1-5; magnesia, 0-2 ;
iron, traces ; common salt, 2 ; silica, alumina, and iron (clay), o'3.
Slight traces of nitrates appeared, but no iodides or bromides.
The total cost of these water-works was ^^1050.
The reading of the boys had been unsatisfactory for many
years, but in 1848 the Examining Committees having reported
upon it as follows — "The reading throughout the School we
consider low, there being but few good readers, and many boys,
even in the upper classes, read incorrectly, without proper, atten-
tion to stops or emphasis, and provincialism is very prevalent" — •
the Committee seriously commenced the search for a remedy.
That was not readily found, however, and several years passed
without improvement in the department. In 1851 the Country
Committee appealed to the London Committee for assistance in
•procuring temporary aid from some well qualified reader, but
both bodies were fastidious, and shrank from introducing the
various elocutionists recommended to them, "most of this
s 2
26o HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
class being associated with dramatic representation, who could
not with propriety be brought into association with the young
people." The prevalence of the defect continued to give them
great concern. They held a conference with the teachers on
the subject, but remained " of the judgment that the objec-
tionable manner of the boys' style of reading was not likely
to be eradicated unless assistance could be obtained from
without.'' Not until 1854, however, did they succeed in
.meeting with the desired aid. In that year they succeeded in
securing the instruction of Professor Greenbank, of Manchester.
In him they found all that they had desired — not only as a
teacher of the art of reading, but as one who was in entire
sympathy with them on moral questions connected with his
profession. He spent, on two occasions, a week at Ackworth
that Summer, working assiduously in the classes, and relieving
the labour each day by one of his pleasant public readings to
the boys and girls assembled in the Reading-room. His visits
effected a great change in the reading; and in the Autumn
examination of that year the Committee drew attention to the
marked improvement throughout the School, attributing it to
the able lessons of Professor Greenbank, and recommending
his re-engagement.
The advantages arising from the extension of the boys'
accommodation by the building operations of 1847 suggested,
as early as 1849, ^ desire for similar improvements on the
girls' side, and Samuel Gurney having offered ;£'i,ooo towards
a fund for raising the bed-rooms and for other extensions in the
West Wing, the Committee opened a subscription list ; and the
improvenients were effected in 1852 at a cost of ^^2,694. By
the alterations made in 1847 on the boys' side, the school-
rooms there were now nine in number, of which no room had
a ceiling lower than 12ft. lin. nor smaller dimensions than
26ft. by 1 6ft. The cubic content of the nine rooms amounted
to up',Yards of 80,000 feet, giving to each occupant (reckoning
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 201
170 boys and lo masters) fully 445 cubic feet of air. The girls'
school-rooms were six in number, the smallest of which was 19ft.
6in. loqg by 14ft. 6in. broad. None of them was lower in the
ceiling than 12ft. lin. The content of these rooms was over
41,000 cubic feet, giving to each inmate (reckoning them to be
130) about 316 cubic feet. As many of the girls are much
employed in other rooms, the disparity in the allowance of space
to each boy and girl is not really so great as these figures represent
In 1849 the girls were divided into ten classes, after the
plan pursued on the boys' side, and the arrangement answered
remarkably well, especially in the upper sections of the School.
The girls' Tenth-class early acquitted itself in a manner which
gave great satisfaction. At the Spring examination in 1852,
after reviewing very favourably its attainments in grammar,
geography, history and general information, in all which subjects
it is reported that its answers shewed " a good deal of thought
well expressed," the Examiners mention especially that the papers
clearly indicated that the girls "were alive to the interest and
enjoyment of mental improvement." The Report shews that
four of the girls were studying mensuration ; four, cube and
square root ; and the rest of the class fractions. The needle-
work was "beautifully executed." Referring to the Report of
the boys' Tenth-class, at the same date, we miss the feeling of
satisfaction experienced by the Examiners of the girls' highest
class. The reading is described as " wanting discrimination in
emphasis" and as in "general style heavy." The boys
acquitted themselves "pretty fairly in spelling and definitions,"
whilst all that is said for their Latin is that " the same attention
was paid to it as heretofore." " In arithmetic and mensuration
the average attainment was respectable." The answers to
questions upon the Scriptures are spoken of as neither so
prompt nor so accurate as could be wished. Some subjects
were better, but a tone of dissatisfaction runs through the
Report. It is clear that mathematics had not yet formed an
262 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
item in the curriculum ; but the Committee had heard with
pleasure that a large class of boys had voluntarily placed
themselves, in play-hours, under the tuition of a young Master,
fresh from the Flounders' Institute, and had " gone through
the First Book of Euclid and made some progress in plane
trigonometry and the rudiments of algebra," and it suggested
that " these important branches might with advantage be
regularly included in the routine of the Tenth-class." The
General Meeting, which met three months later, also signifying
its desire to see the studies of this class, and of the School
generally, safely extended, a number of Friends were appointed
to confer with Thomas Pumphrey on the subject and to report
to the Autumn Committee. Those Friends submitted to the
Committee a number of suggestions. Adding three-quarters of
an hour per day to the school hours, they redistributed the
hours of study, making provision for the introduction of algebra
and mathematics to the four upper classes, to the extent of an
hour and a half in the week in the Seventh-class, an hour and
three-quarters in the Eighth, three hours in the Ninth, and four
in the Tenth. They proposed that two hours a week should be
spent upon French in the Ninth and three hours in the Tenth-
class. An hour and a half were assigned to Latin in the Ninth-
class, where it had not been previously taught, but unfortunately
the time devoted to it in the Tenth was reduced from four to
three hours in the week. They further suggested that forty or
fifty of the older boys, and about as many of the girls, should
not retire in the Winter months until nine o'clock, and that,
during four or five of the Summer months, all the children
should stay up until that hour. The arrangements were approved
by the Committee which gave orders that they should commence
" that day." At the same time the study of French was in-
troduced into the girls' Tenth-class.
In 1851 Henry Wilson laid before the Committee an account
of the state and working of the Boys' Library, with a view to
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 263
shewing its inadequacy. The Library then contained only 480
volumes, large numbers of which are described as very unattrac-
tive, of little value and ill able to compete for popularity with the
light and racy reading the boys brought with them. Yet in ten
months a thousand volumes had been borrowed and at the date
of the Report they were being called for at the rate of 2,000
per annum. Hy. Wilson pleaded for the " enrichment of the
library by well-approved and valuable works,'' observing that
the few of that character which had been supplied recently had
been much read and highly appreciated. He proposed a list
of such works and the, books were readily granted. A Sub-
Committee was appointed to aid Hy. Wilson in his endeavours
to render the agency of the library a serviceable lever in the
elevation of the tastes of the children. In 1853 this small
Committee reported to the parent body that the boys' and girls'
libraries had been greatly improved and extensively used, and
at the same time suggested that the children should also have
access, within suitable limits, to the Teachers' Library. A plan
was proposed and adopted for carrying out this suggestion, but
it did not work well, we believe.
Thirty-four cases of scarlatina having occurred in the Autumn
of 1852, the Women's Committee urged the desirability of
providing Tepid Baths for the children. A subscription was
commenced immediately, and in the vacation of 1854 baths
were erected for the girls, but the boys were not supplied with
them until two years afterwards. In the meantime scarlatina
again visited the School. ^There was only about the same
number of cases in the Spring of 1854 as on the previous
occasion, but the type of the complaint was graver. One girl
died from the effects of the fever and, about the same time, one
of the boys was carried off by rheumatic fever. The General
Meeting was omitted in consequence of the prevalence of the
complaint, and a vacation of six weeks was given to afford the
opportunity for a thorough investigation of the sanitary state of
264 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the premises. Mr. Pritchett, architect, was called in to assist
with his advice. A very careful examination was made of the
drains and they were found far from satisfactory. Many of
them, badly built of stone, had fallen out of repair, were
deficient in fall and over-run with rats. The imperfect drains
were replaced by glazed earthenware tubes, carefully trapped,
and several large water-closet cesspools were filled up. The
conveniences on the girls' side being found irremediably bad,
were removed and replaced by a service of fourteen water-
closets, approached under cover but having no direct commu-
nication with the interior of the house. The boys' arrangements
were not altered, being in a much more satisfactory condition
than those on the girls' side. The canal at the bottom of the
garden was cleaned out. It had been at one time almost
concluded to fill this up, but its water was found to be of use
for flushing the stream into which it flowed and it was on that
account retained. The bed of the stream beyond Car Bridge
was found in a very offensive state, where it received the
drainage of some adjacent cottages not belonging to the School.
About 150 yards beyond these cottages the main drain of the
School discharged itself into the stream bed, where in Summer
there was often little, sometimes no water. A little further down,
however, the principal land drain of the School property came
in and was usually a copious flow. With this the sewage
mingled and is described as " flowing in a slow, feculent, offen-
sive stream till it reached the tail-water of the mill." As the
Commi,ttee could not succeed at that time in purchasing the
mill stream, for the purpose of turning it at a higher point into the
bed containing the drainage, it resolved to retain the canal for
the purpose above referred to and, also, to carry the School
main drain in pipes until it could be discharged into the stream
where the more vigorous flow came in from the mill. The
ventilation of the boys' Tenth-class school-room having long
been complained of, and the Investigating Committee having
concluded that it was quite too small for twenty boys — being
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 265
only 31ft. gin. by 19ft. sin. — resolved to convert it into a sitting-
room for the Teachers and to take the room which they had
previously occupied, and which was over the Matron's room,
for the Tenth-class, enlarging it by the addition of a portion of
the room to the north of it, and thus making it 44ft. by 19ft.
In 1854 Thomas Brown left Ackworth and retired to Stoke
Newington. His health had been failing for some years and
he had endeavoured to leave before but the Committee and
Thomas Pumphrey, being exceedingly loath to lose his excellent
influence from the Establishment, had arranged some work for
him in the Office by which, without much strain upon himself,
he was still able, for some time, by the noble example of a
beautiful life, to do worthy service to an Institution and a com-
munity of fellow-workers very dear to his heart. The Com-
mittee, on receiving his note of resignation, state that they
desire "again to record their sense of the value of his services
during the long period of forty years, and would affectionately
desire that the change may afford him the benefits he hopes to
receive. John Pease and Robert Jowitt are requested to
convey to him an expression of the feeling of interest and
regard entertained by the Committee towards him."
The Religious Training and Instruction of the children
repeatedly claimed the serious consideration of the members of
the Committee and, in 1856, they desired Thomas Pumphrey to
draw up a paper which should supply them with definite infor-
mation on its state and on the methods pursued to attain it.
The document he presented, in response to their request, is,
perhaps, more interesting as embodying the views and principles
which shaped his own attitude towards the subject than as an
epitome of the course practically pursued by the teachers to
effect the object. It states that from four hours and a half to
five hours and a quarter were spent in the classes, every week,
upon the Scriptures. Of this time, an hour and a half were
266 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
appropriated to the private reading of them prior to the com-
mencement of the work of the school — a quarter of an hour
each morning. Three lessons, of three quarters of an hour's
duration, were given in Scriptural instruction, and three quarters
of an hour devoted to learning passages each week. Besides
these, the master-on-duty devoted one evening-hour in the
week to Biblical exposition, whilst the reading of the Scriptures
always closed the day. On three evenings of the week, about
half an hour was appropriated to the reading of religious works,
chiefly selected from the fields of biography and history. Pass-
ing somewhat cursorily over these arrangements, Thomas Pum-
phrey dwells more particularly upon the occasion in which he
himself took an important part — the First Day evening reading.
Few, if any, will ever forget that hour between seven and eight
o'clock, and few seasons exerted a more powerful Ufe-influence.
All will recollect how first one of the masters read a chapter and
one of the elder boys another, then how one of the mistresses,
with a senior girl, followed with similar portions. The book
was then closed and the company sat in a silence that was often
deeply solemn, until broken, as it usually was, by Thomas
Pumphrey in supplication or exhortation. To this occasion he
refers in his paper as one in which he says : " I often find it my
place to address the company in the line of the ministry as well
as in what I may call Gospel liberty, under a lively feeling of
religious concern. The duty, privilege, and value of prayer and
its nature, the direct, perceptible influences of the Holy Spirit
in their hearts and the importance and necessity of taking heed
thereunto and of cherishing a tender and enlightened con-
science; the corruption of the human heart in the Fall;
redemption by Christ ; the submission of the will to the Divine
Will ; faith and holiness ; truth-speaking and many other sub-
jects are thus brought before the children."
Then, after showing how, in an infinite variety of ways, on
pointed occasions of personal interest, the watchful teacher will
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 267
ever be alive to the value of a word in season of counsel or
encouragement, Thomas Pumphrey proceeds to show his
estimate of the daily walk of an upright man, as a teaching
principle. "Whilst these and all other appliances within our
reach are to be diligently and faithfully used in the fear of the
Lord, it must be acknowledged that one of the most powerful
means of operating on the minds of children and of promoting
the formation of religious character, is by the practical illustra-
tion of Christianity in the daily life and walk of those who are
placed over them. It is believed that there is, on the part of
most of us, a conscientious concern to avoid putting any
stumbling-block in the way of the children by our unwatchful
conduct -y yet the acknowledgment can only be made under
painful feelings of humiliation and a deep sense of multiplied
unfaithfulness."
Referring to the difficulties experienced by the -teachers in
dealing with the religious training and instruction, he observes :
" The low state in which many of our scholars (and we think
within the last year or two in an increased degree) come to
School is not an unimportant element. The gross ignorance of
Scripture which some of them manifest is another lamentable
fact. The small amount of parental restraint to which others
appear to have been subject, before coming to school, and of
religious interest in their welfare whilst here, as indicated by
the little enquiry that is made respecting them, is also a
discouraging circumstance ; but these remarks must not be
regarded as of general application ; in numerous instances the
reverse is the case.''
The cry of ignorance was not new, but this deliberate
declaration of the Superintendent, in reference to the state of
the Scriptural information and of the religious training of a
large class of the children, on their entrance, touched the
sympathies and the interest of the Committee most keenly. It
268 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
appointed five of its members to draw up an Address to
Parents, which was printed and widely circulated in the
summer. Starting with the premiss, that "education, for
good or evil, commences in infancy," and appealing to parents
in the sentiment of .the language, "Take this child and nurse
it for me," whilst acknowledging their belief that many Friends
were truly interested in the spiritual welfare of their children,
the writers state that they have learned "with pain" that some
children still enter our Schools "lamentably ignorant "of the
Scriptures and "very imperfectly instructed in their religious and
moral duties." The address ends in the language of encourage-
ment, arguing that, " however inadequate Friends may feel for
the service," the duty cannot be " transferred to any delegated
educator," and that "He who has invested them with the
authority" will, "in answer to their prayers," " grant the aid of
His Holy Spirit to enable them rightly to fulfil it."
Thomas Pumphrey's sound ideas of education may be
gathered from the concluding words of his letter to the Com-
mittee. "Our chief satisfaction," he says, "in reflecting on
the education given in this Institution arises from the belief
that it is not merely mechanical, that it consists less in charging
the memory with words than storing the mind with ideas ; that
it endeavours, not only to put in, but to draw out ; that its aim
is to develop the intellectual powers, to cultivate good habits of
thought and reflection and to cherish a love of self-improve-
ment." And, although these are the words of Thomas Pum-
phrey, they embrace the views of many of the sound thinkers
on the Committee, many of whom thought much and deeply
upon education and often, in private, imparted their views to
the teachers of the day.
Of the state of the general education in which boys at this
time entered the School, some opinion may be drawn from the
following statement : Of the forty-nine boys who entered in the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 269
summer of this year (1856), nineteen were placed in the First
or lowest class and twelve in the Second ; of the remaining
eighteen, six were placed in the Third-class, five in the Fourth,
three in the Fifth, and four in the Sixth. It is interesting to
find that, of the forty-five boys who had last left School,
twenty-seven had reached the Tenth or highest class and only
one was as low as the Fifth. The average stay of boys at
School at this time had been, during the previous ten years,
three years and eight months.
The conduct of the boys • had now risen to a standard of
excellence which ten years before had, probably, never been
dreamed of. Thomas Puplett had succeeded Henry Wilson
as " master-on-duty'' in 1855 and continued the generous
policy of the latter, with an attention to detail peculiarly his
own, and a persuasive kindliness full of gentle power. In
April, 1857, the Examining Committee observed, with refer-
ence to the general conduct of the boys, as indicated by data
presented by the masters, that they had " great comfort in
believing that its scale was higher than at any former period.^'
A proposal, having been discussed by that Committee for ex-
tending the annual holidays to six weeks, circulars were sent
out for the purpose of eliciting the opinion of parents on the
question. The replies, when tabulated, presented the following
features : —
64. Friends decidedly preferred one of four weeks.
24 II preferred four weeks, but expressed a wish not to oppose
one of six weeks, if thought best.
62 decidedly approved a six-weeks holiday.
15 preferred one of six weeks, but would not press it, if one of four
were thought better.
With these returns before it, the Committee did not think itself
justified in making a change.
The price of provisions in 1855 and 1856 was so high as to
create considerable anxiety about the finances. In 1853 — the
270 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
year before the Crimean war — flour was obtained, by contract,
for tlie first quarter of tlie year at 41/- per sack, superfine, and
38/- the sack, fine ; and for the next quarter at 37/- and 33/-,
respectively, for these qualities. The sack contained twenty
stones, and the consumption was generally about six sacks of
superfine and twenty-five of fine flour per month. In 1855-6,
flour rose to 54/8 and 51/8 for superfine and fine flour, whilst
meat, which, in 1851, was 4^d. a pound, rose to 6d. The cost
per head, in 1851, waS;^2o 12s. 7d., of which ^^8 los. lod.
was due to provisions; but in 1855 and 1856 the total cost
rose, respectively, to ;^23 igs. 3d. and;^24 is. gd., of which
;,£^ii 8s. rod., in the former, and ;^ii 7s., in the latter year,
were due to provisions. The Committee appealed to parents
with a view to inducing them to adopt higher rates of payment.
The general pressure of the times was so severely felt that the
rates of payment had materially decreased just when more money
was required to defray higher expenses. The scale of payment
which, in 1854, had averaged ;^i4 i8s. 2d. and the year be-
fore ^15 ss. had, in 1855, fallen to ^^14 12s. 2d. Yet so
heavily did the times press upon Friends generally that the
Committee's appeal was only responded to in a limited degree —
the average payment, in 1857, being only ;^i4 14s. 3d.
The age for improvements in the premises, which the year
1847 inaugurated, still continued to furnish its almost yearly
additional comforts or conveniences. In 1856 a house was
constructed for the Farmer near to th^ farm-yard and buildings, '
some of which latter were improved at the same time. In
1858, in consequence of a kind intimation through Smith
Harrison, of London, that a number of old scholars were pre-
pared to defray the cost of a new swimming bath, the Com-
mittee gratefully accepted the offer, made arrangements for
supplying water from the School works and ordered its im-
mediate construction. It was opened in the following spring.
A general holiday celebration and great rejoicing among the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
271
young people welcomed the inauguration of its use. Its dimen-
sions are 100 ft. by 35. It is supplied with dressing sheds
and cost about ;^47o. In 1859, a Drinking Fountain was
erected on the boys' green, the cost of which was discharged by
Samuel Gurney. A more extensive improvement of the water-
works was also resolved upon the same year, which was not
however completed until 1863. Considerable inconvenience
having arisen whenever the pump or its machinery required
attention, it was proposed in 1859 to make an additional bore-
hole and put down another pump ; but the small Committee,
under whose charge the project was left, made no progress with
the work until the spring of 1 861, when they were urged to proceed
with it without loss of time. In the autumn a depth of 116
feet had been reached, when the engineer presented the follow-
ing statement of the strata through which he had passed : —
14 ft. o in.
I ft. 4 in.
14 ft. 8 in.
Clay and Sandstone
Light Shale
Sandstone
Black boss
Pottery Clay
Ironstone
Light Shale
Sandstone
Light Shale
Sandstone
9 ft. o in.
18 ft. o in.
8 ft. o- in.
o ft. 6 in.
9 ft. o in.
9 ft. 6 in.
32 ft. o in.
The work proved more extensive and costly than had been
anticipated. A bore-hole of large dimensions was cut, and the
supply proved ample. A powerful new pump was put down,
the old one renewed and all the machinery placed in good
order. When the report of the expenditure was made in 1863,
it was stated that the outlay had been allowed to become
very liberal from the circumstance that the engineer, William
W. Hewitson — an old scholar — had intended, it was believed,
to defray a considerable part of it himself. This had been
io6
s.
d.
33
77
300
10
"S
97
8
728
18
32
18
C 696
272 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
prevented by his unexpected death. Kitson and Hewitson's bill
amounted to ^^768, of which the sum of ^^72 was due to other
parties for work done for them. Reduced by this item, their
account was as follows : —
Repairs of boiler in 1862
Repairs of engine and cooking apparatus -
Renewal of pump, machinei-y, and boring
New pump, (added) 1863
Repairs to engine and new shafting -
Repairs to old pump and new apparatus -
Discount
Total
One of the great advantages of this improvement was the
increased facility for changing the water of the swimming bath.
Prior to it, that operation required fifty hours, whereas, by the
use of both bores, it could be effected in eight.
Richard Reynolds, of Leeds, F.C.S., and Lecturer on
Chemistry at the Leeds School of Medicine, was requested to
analyze the water of both bores, and as it is represented as " one
of very uncommon occurrence^' we think our readers will be
interested in the report of the analysis, and therefore give it in
full :—
Old well. New well.
Carbonate of lime , i '5 i '6
Carbonate of magnesia 1-51 i-ji
Carbonate of iron - trace only - trace only.
Carbonate of soda - 35"43 32*44
(Equal to crystallised washing soda 95 "6) (87-52)
Chloride of sodium 8-98 9-12
Silica and organic matter trace trace
Grains of solid matter in a gallon 47 "42 44 '67
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 273
" The first conclusion to be drawn from this table is that
there is no essential difference between the two waters. They
are, for all practical purposes, the same, and neither can lay
claim to any preference. It may safely be inferred that both
are drawn from the well with but a trifling admixture of surface
water, or much more salt of lime and magnesia would have been
found.
" Contaminations. — A rigid search has been made for impuri-
ties derived from animal decay and for lead. The first of these
would be found in the form of alkaline nitrates, if water con-
taining these had percolated through the adjacent soil. No
trace of these can be detected. No lead is present in either
specimen.
" General Properties,. — This water is one of very uncommon
occurrence, since carbonate of soda is very rarely found in well-
water and, in the few cases known, it is usually in smaller quan-
tities than here found. The other constituents present no
peculiarity and are only noticeable as being in small proportions
compared with quantities usually found. The Salts of Lime and
Magnesia may almost be said to be absent. It is, therefore,
simply as an alkaline water that we have to consider it. Waters
containing Carbonate of Soda are found in • London from the
deep wells of the chalk. The following may be named : — ■
Wells at the Mint, Trafalgar-square, Guy's Hospital. The
largest quantity of alkali recorded is in the last of these, being
i2'36 grains per gallon (Odling), or just one-third of that
at Ackworth. Leeds may be said to be the head-quarters of
alkaline waters of the present type, i.e., of great strength and
purity and, when freshly drawn, having a sulphurretted odour.
In the southern district of Leeds there are dozens of wells
raising such water, which is known by the name of ' Holbeck
Spa Water.' The amount of Carbonate of Soda varies from
24 to 45 grains per gallon, the latter being the maximum. It
274 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
has been highly esteemed from time immemorial and has been
carted about for domestic use. At the present time the district
is also supplied with the ' town's water,' of good average quality,
but a very large quantity of the alkaline water is purchased
by the poorer inhabitants. They willingly pay for it for making
tea and as a general beverage. I have specially consulted
an intelligent surgeon, who has resided in this district for
many years, and who has a very large practice, as to whether
this extensive use of alkaline waters quite as strong as the
present had, within his observation, produced any effect upon
health or disease. He confirmed the statement I have made
as to its extensive use and the preference given to it and said
that he had it always brought to his own house for use both for
drinking and making tea. He said that he had never heard
even a suspicion of injury hinted against it, but frequently
people had complained of the substituted waters not
agreeing with them so well. He did not think that there was
the slightest objection to it. My own feeling would be much as
follows, with all due reserve on the question of its physiological
action, to give an opinion on which is not my province. The
search for evidence against such waters has failed; therefore
there is no reason why its use may not be continued by the
Committee with every feeling of confidence. But, the water is
admittedly an exceptional one and, although the water supply
of England generally exhibits the widest differences, still no one
has studied the question so as to generalize upon it. It cannot
be quite indifferent which of these many waters Man drinks
and some day we may have data upon which to select. If
anyone proposed adding 95 grains of Washing Soda to a gallon
of water and giving it as a beverage to the School, the propo-
sition would be scouted at once. Still we are accepting just
such an exceptional water because it has a natural source. The
unusual purity of the water . in all other respects has a compen-
sating value worth recognising. The intelligent observation of
the medical officer at the School may possibly lead to some
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 275
conclusions. I need hardly remark upon the great pecuniary
gain which the possession of the water supplies for washing
purposes. Every 100 gallons contains a pound and a quarter
of Washing Soda, but the absence of Salts of Lime, &c., is still
more important. It should be remembered that in the kitchen
boilers a high degree of saline concentration may be attained if
steam be withdrawn and fresh water admitted continually. The
boilers should be run off daily. The turbidity of the small
specimen from the tank is due to abundant confervoid growths,
harbouring similarly low members of the animal kingdom.
This tendency demands their frequent cleansing.
"(Signed) RICHARD REYNOLDS, F.C.S.,
" Lecturer on Chemistry, Leeds School of Medicine.''
In continuation of the list of improvements of this time
may be mentioned one of apparently minor but, practically, of
great importance to the comfort of the boys. Their playground
was asphalted in the summer of 1859. The work was so
extensive that it necessitated a six weeks' holiday and, although
executed at the comparatively low rate of eightpence per yard,
cost ;^2i3. Another improvement was the erection of a fine
new Turret Clock, the cost of which — £,^2$ — was defrayed
by Jos. G. Barclay, Samuel Gurney, Henry E. Gurney, Jos.
Pease, and Joshua Wilson Brothers. This was completed in
i86r.
T 2
CHAPTER XIV.
ACTIVITY IN THE SOCIETY OF ARTS — PHONOGRAPHY — ESSAY
SOCIETY THE GAMES — THE WORKSHOP THE SCHOOL EX-
AMINED BY WM. DAVIS, B.A. THOMAS PUMPHREY'S GREAT
FETE THOMAS PUMPHREY's HEALTH FAILS HE RESIGNS
HIS POST GEORGE AND RACHEL SATTERTHWAITE A GRAND
HOLIDAY THOMAS PUMPHREY's LAST DAYS AND DEATH.
The reports of the boys' conduct since 1848 had (with some
little exception about 1854, occasioned, we are told, by the
unavoidable but frequent absence of various teachers from their
duties) been eminently satisfactory and in 1859 we fiind the
Committee passing high enconiums upon it and upon the
teachers as the means of bringing about the happy state of the
discipline. Considerable activity in useful pursuits during
their leisure marked the boys of this period. The Society of
Arts had been revived and remodelled by Henry Wilson in
1 85 1 and quickly became a leading power of culture, very
successfully encouraging a love for art, whilst, as yet, Drawing
was no part of the training in the classes. In the early years of
its revival the diligence of its members was most praiseworthy.
At one of their exhibitions there were no fewer than 705
specimens of work, all executed within three months. It was
about this time, we believe, that Bartholomew Smith, of Thirsk,
showed no little kind encouragement to the Society, amongst
other acts of kindness presenting to it a beautiful oil painting
of Norham Castle — his own work. Joseph Miller Constable,
also about the same time, presented through Thomas Brown,
formerly his teacher, an exquisite pen and ink drawing after
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 277
Landseer. The activity of the revived Society was vigorous
for many years and, at the time at which we have now arrived,
was doing some good work, although the rage for Phonography
was rather elbowing it out of some circles and we believe that
in 1 860-1 the Society suffered a temporary suspension in
favour of natural history and the work of a vigorous Essay
Society. This latter Society had its origin in 1852, but in
1859-60 it had reached a success unprecedented in its previous
history. Its membership had, that session, been made con-
ditional upon a position in the " First Division " in the monthly
scale of conduct ; but this circumstance does not appear in any
way to have militated against its success. Entomology was
pursued with much ardour for two or three years about i860,
its study being chiefly distinguished by the successful rearing of
specimens. At one time there were fifteen caterpillar estab-
lishments in the garden shed, a fertile source of interest, not
only to their owners but to great numbers of their school-
fellows. The appearance of Donati's comet was a source of
great interest to the children in the autumn evenings of 1858
and gave a fillip to their astronomical pursuits. Many of the
boys devoted themselves, with great ardour, to Conchology, soon
after this time, under the inspiriting direction of John W.
Watson ; whilst Botany was with almost equal zeal pursued by
other boys. Nor did the games suffer from these numerous
activities. Never did kite-flying attract more enterprise. The
boys of this generation tell with pride of a " Dutch kite," with a
convex surface, which was' able to dispense with a tail ; and of
a wonderful effort called the " Black Eagle," whose ascent was
considered a marvel of engineering skill. These creatures of
the air must have surpassed the cunning of the curious twin
kite made by William Coor Parker and his companions in the
likeness of Samuel Gill and his bride (nee Elizabeth Airey) and
in gratitude to them for the glass of wine given to each of the
children, on the occasion of their marriage, thirty years before
the time of which we now write. Cricket now became a more
278 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
perfect science. The game received a great impulse in 1859
from Joseph Rowntree's kindness in laying out a new bowling-
crease for the boys, at his own expense. The following year,
Hockey was introduced and ruled the affections of the boys like
a master-passion, blotting out of existence that delightfully
fearful game of " Smugglers," which had been the joy of more
savage generations, and throwing into shade the labours of the
Society of Arts. Happily for this Society, it possessed a Curator,
in 1862, who so warmly devoted himself to its interests, giving
up himself and his school-room twice a week to its service, that
its fortunes soon brightened. At the same time, the workshop
was made attractive by the introduction of eccentric turning.
Indeed, the school appears, at this time, to have reached a happy
state, in which appreciation of the dignity of labour and delight
in athletic sports left but slender occasion for troublesome mis-
chief or desultory and evil habits.
At the request of the Committee, the School was examined,
in the Spring of 1861, by Mr. WiUiam Davis, B.A., one of the
British and Foreign School Society's Inspectors. He made
examination, viva voce, into the state of all the classes ; and, in .
addition, the 8th, 9th and loth classes on the boys' side and
the 9th and loth on that of the girls' passed through a written
examination. His report has all the appearance of a careful
effort to place the Committee in possession of such information
as should enable it to institute a comparison between the state
of education at Ackworth and the standard of those schools
with which he was most familiar. He appears to have con-
sidered the school, as a whole, in a satisfactory condition. Its
/(?«« he thought " excellent.'' He was highly gratified by the
straightforward honesty of the children in their attitude towards
the examination, in which he found not the slightest effort at
surreptitious practices. The Reading was on the whole satis-
factory to him. The Spelling and Definition of words were
described as, in every class, good ; the Writing, as not remarkable
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 279
but passable ; History, Geography, English Grammar and
General Information, all "satisfactory.'' The Girls' Tenth-class
is reported to have done " remarkably well " in the last four
subjects. Mr. Davis observes that, to be of any value to a boy,
Latin should be commenced in a much lower class than the
Ninth. He suggests that it should be begun in the Sixth and
remarks that " the boys in the Tenth would then be prepared to
read a Latin author with some advantage, whereas no boy is, at
present, able to construe correctly a simple passage of C^sar.''
But the weak point of the school was, he considered, the
department of Arithmetic, Algebra and Euclid. He observes,
in his report : — " The Arithmetic is in an unsatisfactory state
throughout all the higher classes '' and " I regard the examina-
tion in Algebra and Euclid a failure." With the Mental Calcu-
lation he was, on the contrary, much pleased and says : — " The
rapidity and accuracy with which some of the classes, especially
the Tenth classes of boys and girls and also the Ninth class of
boys, perform, mentally, long calculations in the simple rules of
arithmetic is very remarkable. Indeed I have very rarely met
with pupils who could equal the Ackworth ones in this branch.''
He concludes his observations by saying : — " I cannot close
this report without recording the high opinion I entertain of the
teachers and of the spirit in which they perform their work. A
remarkably good feeling seems to exist between every teacher
and his or her class."
In the autumn of i860, Thomas Pumphrey's health having
been in a failing condition for some months, he was requested
to take a long holiday for the purpose of recruiting it, if possible.
On his return, after a three months' absence, learning that the
conduct of the children had been everything that he could
desire, he devised for them a treat, which was so effectively
managed that we believe it is looked upon by those whO'
had the pleasure of participating in it as one of the most
delightful occasions of their school-days. He invited the whole
2 8o HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
family — boys, girls, and teachers — to an evening tea-party. The
only room in the establishment in which he could receive so
large a concourse of guests was the Meeting-house. In response
to his kind proposal, willing helpers flew to his aid. The room
where all were wont to meet for worship, and rarely for any
other purpose, was by nimble and willing fingers transformed,
in a few days, into a festive hall, whose walls and pillars were
draped with evergreen festoons and half concealed by bosky
bowers, amidst whose foliage stuffed birds perched and wild
animals crouched. Amidst the verdant decorations might also
be seen emblazoned the names of great patrons of the School
and of the five. superintendents who for more than eighty years
had guided its internal economy. They who witnessed the
scene tell us of two wonderful piles of ornamentation which
were erected at the entrances to the ministers' gallery — the one
symbolic of the activities of the physical, the other of the intel-
lectual, moral and religious life, as its good superintendent
would have them to be. Amongst the decorative elements of
the former were found the bat, the ball, the hockey-stick et hoc
genus omne; amongst those of the latter, all the scholastic
appliances of the class-rooms resting on a big Bible and crowned
by the same holy Book. The village having been requisitioned
for cups and saucers for this great multitude, the whole School
sat down to a genuine social English tea-table for the first time
in its history. Great was the enjoyment, many the pleasant
memories of that eventful New Year's Day of 1861. When the
tables were cleared, the evening was spent in addresses, readings
appropriate to the occasion and written for it, others of a less
local character, and in a general " feast of reason and flow of
soul," until dessert came on, after which the usual Scripture
reading and some afiectionate words of Christian interest from
Thomas Pumphrey concluded the occasion about 10.30 p.m.
The somewhat revived health of the Superintendent gave
hopes at this time which were not destined to be realized. As
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 28 1
the spring approached, he felt that his day of active work was
drawing to a close and prepared to take the first step for
severing his connection with the scene of his great life's labour.
To his friend Josiah Forster, after unburdening the painfulness
of the prospect before him, he says : — " The best welfare of
the School is very dear to us. We are closely aUied in love
and friendship to our fellow-labourers ; and amongst the Com-
mittee we number not a few of our most valued friends ; whilst
to the Committee as a body, throughout the whole period of
our connection with the School, we are deeply indebted for its
unwavering support, as well as its cordial sympathy and
generous confidence.'' A week after penning these lines, so
appreciative of the value of much from which he was preparing
to part, he sent in his resignation to the Committee.
Thomas Pumphrey had the great happiness of delivering over
his charge to his successor in a state of high disciplinary and
moral excellence. Writing on the nth of Fifth Month, 1861,
five or six weeks after he gave notice of his desire to vacate his
post at the close of the year, he says : — " The School is at
present in an agreeable state ; good order and kindly feeling
prevail ; we are, upon the whole, well officered ; so that I hope,
if things continue pretty satisfactory, our successors will enter
upon office under favourable circumstances." Nor was this his
own opinion alone. All authority unites its testimony to the
prevalence of a satisfactory social and moral condition of the
School. On the boys' side, this happy state had been the
steady growth of many years. It was not the spasmodic issue
of a few striking circumstances and experiences, or of an
electric discipline. It was doubtless in measure the growth of
a combined kindly activity and a zealous devotion to duty on
the part of the staff generally ; but they who know the prepon-
derating influence of the mode in which the out-door discipline
of a large school is conducted will not be slow to recognise, in
the wonderfully improved tone of feeling in the School from
282 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
1848 downward, the outcome of the steady, patient, far-seeing
and generous policy of two remarkable men — Henry Wilson
and Thomas Puplett — supported, in all their noble efforts for
the elevation of the standard of life amongst the boys, by the
appreciative sympathies and kindred aspirations of the Superin-
tendent.
In his Report on the state of the boys during the last year of
Thomas Pumphrey's residence, Thomas Puplett stated that he
could not recall the time when there was less in the school to
cause anxiety. He also speaks of the religious condition of the
school as giving much cause for thankfulness. A remarkable
freedom, harmony and mutual trust appear to have existed
between the teachers as a body and the children.
On receiving Thomas Pumphrey's intimation of his intention
to retire from his post at the close of the year, the Committee
entered upon its books the following minute : —
" The Committee, in receiving tlie tender of resignation conveyed in
Thomas Pumphrey's letter, record their sense of sorrow that the health of
our beloved friend should be such as to impress upon his mind the necessity
of his discontinuing his official connection mth the school. In reviewing
the long term of his administration, they can loolc upon it as a period of
faithful, efficient and successful services. And whilst they sympathise with
their friend in his estimate of the kind and hearty co-operation which he has
received from the officers of the Institution, the Committee express their
belief that his colleagues have been stimulated by his example and counsel
to a diligent and conscientious discharge of their duties. They also
reverently and thankfully recognise the Divine Blessing as having rested on
their joint labours, without which they that build the house labour in vain.
When the time of separation shall come, our dear friends— Thomas and
Isabel Pumphrey— will carry with them the esteem and love of the
Committee and Officers of the Institution, as well as the grateful recollec-
tions of very many children who have been the objects of their Christian
care and love. ''
In 1862, George and Rachel Satterthwaite were
appointed to succeed Thomas and Isabel Pumphrey, but did
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 283
not enter upon the duties of their office until the following
Spring. On the loth of Sixth Month, 1862 — the 6oth anni-
versary of Thomas Pumphrey's birth — a grand fete was given
to the children by the retiring Superintendent and his successor.
A whole day's holiday was given, but lest the juniors should
experience ennui from having such an unwonted term of leisure
on their hands, Thomas Pumphrey gave, in the morning, a
suggestive lecture on the Great Exhibition of 1851, rendered
appropriate by the repetition that year of a similar international
gathering. The afternoon was spent in the fields, where, for a
portion of the time, the boys and girls joined each other in their
games, of which " Tirzah " formed the chief. Tea was prepared
for all upon the " Green" but, soon after the company was
seated, a heavy down-pour of rain burst upon it, driving the boys
and girls in precipitate flight into the colonnades and other
shelter. This sudden disturbance of their pleasant anticipa-
tions of a repast al fresco did not prevent their having an
interesting evening of mixed Readings and Addresses in the
Meeting-house, John Ford being one of the chief speakers.
The occasion derived a special interest from the presence of
the two men who had united to give the treat, having such
diverse stand-points in reference to the history of the school — the
one looking back over twenty-seven years of varied experience
and wrestling labour in its service, in which he would not fail to
recognise, with thankfulness, that the tumultuous and turbid
waves on which he had first launched his bark were then lost
in the laughing ripples of a sun-lit tide ; the other, with face
intent, turned on an untried sea, stretching forth to the myste-
ries of an unknown future, not unconscious of possible storm
and stress, yet confident in the guidance of a Pilot in whom he
had long trusted.
George and Rachel Satterthwaite had entered upon their duties
on the last day of Third Month, and Thomas and Isabel
Pumphrey, who had chosen for their future residence a house
284 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
at the bottom of the " Great Garden," went to Ilkley for a
few weeks whilst it was being prepared for their reception.
They were settled in it prior to the General Meeting — an
occasion which Thomas Pumphrey, in his new capacity of
visitor, appears greatly to have enjoyed, during an interval of
better health than he had experienced for some time, but
which, unfortunately for his friends, proved of brief duration.
John Ford has presented the public with so full an account
of the last days of this Christian Pastor, that it is unnecessary
here to dwell upon them. There is something pathetic in
the contemplation of the fact that this good man had
exhausted his physical energies, had worn out his life in
the service he so much loved. He may be said to have
died in harness. The few weeks by which he survived
the resignation of his office sufficed to show how he could
have enjoyed, adorned and utilized a life of retired ease, but
his memory was to be associated exclusively with the period of
his active life. His retirement drew forth a very wide ex-
pression of interest and affection from his old pupils who
testified, in various ways, their sense of indebtedness to him
and of regard for his future comfort. Among these evidences
of esteem was a present in money from some of the old
scholars of upwards of a thousand pounds. A few days before
the close of Seventh Month a return of his malady greatly pro-
strated him ; and his medical advisers, on the morning of the
31st, informed him that he could not survive this last attack of
It. The following account of his last hours we quote from John
Ford's memoir of him : —
" On Fifth Day Morning, when the doctors came together he requested
his wife and daughter to leave the room. On the former re-entering he
said, ' I have heavy tidings for thee, my dear, the doctors say it is pnly a
question of hours.' On the remark, 'It is not heavy tidings to thee,' he
replied ' I feel it solemn— veiy solemn !' His wife said ' I hope we shall meet
again.' He replied, ' Yes, trusting in Jesus' blood— press on and we shall !'
To his friend and successor, George Satterthwaite, he said, ' I know in whom
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 285
I have believed, and I am able to feel that He can keep that which I have
committed to Him. I have been long living on the confines of the eternal
world, and I have never experienced the joys of religion so much as
during the last few months. In social life, in business, in recreation,
throughout all, I have felt my Saviour's presence in a way I never before
witnessed.' In another brief interview, he said, 'The Lord has been
gracious to me and full of love. He has covered all my sins and my manifold
transgressions, and washed them all away for my Saviour's sake !' Inquiring
of Dr. Oxley if his faculties would be clear to the end, his friendly
physician replied, 'yes, they will almost survive the body.' And such was
remarkably the case. On the Doctor observing that the pulse was almost
gone, he felt it himself, and said, ' It is indeed, I can scarcely feel it !'
After an interval of oppressive breathing, he said ' The lamp is loath to go
out ; I thought I was gone.' Again he opened his eyes and said, ' Oh,
the pain, the bliss of dying !' At another time, with a look of inex-
pressible sweetness, he remarked 'Gently descending.' In one more
interval of easier breathing, in answer to the suggestion, ' Hearing the
haven,' he replied 'very near.' Shortly after this, about a quarter past
twelve, the redeemed and purified spirit passed away to his heavenly
inheritance."
CHAPTER XV.
A PRESENT FROM THREE JEWISH GENTLEMEN DIPHTHERIA
MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES JOHN NEWBY RE-
TIRES THE TERMS ARE RAISED — SCHOOL OPENED TO
NON-MEMBERS DEFICIENT SUBSCRIPTIONS THE EXAMPLE
OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE QUARTERLY MEETING
MARY ANN SPECIAL RETIRES RACHEL EHZBETH STONE
SUCCEEDS HER DRAINAGE EXAMINATION BY MESSRS.
WALTON AND MORLEY EXTENSIVE ALTERATIONS DIETARY
COMMITTEE GEORGE SATTERTHWAITE RETIRES JOSIAH
EVANS SUCCEEDS HIM — BOYS ARRANGED IN FIVE CLASSES
THOMAS PUPLETT AVERAGE AGE, &C., OF THE BOYS
NEW LAVATORY AND WARM BATHS — WINTER VACATION
SCARLATINA — JOSIAH EVANS RETIRES — IS SUCCEEDED BY
FREDERIC ANDREWS THE " ACKWORTH SCHOOL FUND.''
To the first Committee which met after the duties of the
superintendent had passed into the hands of George Satter-
thwaite, it was his pleasant duty to give information that a sum
of ;i^65o 3S., the proceeds of the sale of five shares in the
Waterworks of Sheffield, had been presented to the School
by three Jewish gentlemen of that town — Joseph, Samuel and
Isaac Goldsmith. They were the heirs-at-law of Abraham
Davy, who died intestate, but who was known to have
expressed an intention of bequeathing a legacy to Ackworth
School. This wish they desired sacredly to fulfil. The
minute acknowledging this act is as follows : — "The Committee
desires to record its grateful sense of the highly honourable
and generous conduct of the said Joseph, Samuel and Isaac
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 287
Goldsmith in thus fulfilling the desire of their uncle, though
under no legal obligation to do so.'' ,
But this agreeable episode was not the harbinger of cloud-
less skies. If Thomas Pumphrey's advent on the stage had
been amongst disturbed disciplinary forces, that of George
Satterthwaite was amidst disease'and death. In the first school-
year of his presidency four deaths occurred in the house.
Diphtheria broke out towards the close of 1862 and continued
its course during the first weeks of the following year. There
were, in all, only nineteen cases, but the fatal character of the
disorder spread much dismay amongst the parents and those
connected with the establishment. No sooner had this much-
feared disease disappeared than measles spread in the school.
There were fifty cases of the complaint.
Dr. Turner, of Manchester, was called in to inspect the
premises and expressed an opinion that there was little or
nothing unsatisfactory in their sanitary arrangements. The
drains were carefully investigated ; such as were in any way
defective were remedied and many additional traps were
inserted.
In spite of sickness and sorrow, Ackworth School was not
behind the country at large in the expression of its loyalty to
the house of our noble Queen, on the occasion of the marriage
of the Prince of Wales on the loth of Third Month, 1863.
The day was inauspicious ; and the three banners over the
centre and that over each wing flapped heavily against their
standards. George and Rachel Satterthwaite planted their
commemoration trees in the Entrance Area, amidst pelting
showers of rain and the loyal vivas of three hundred throats.
But the dark winter's-day closed in early and the bright in-
door festivities were not disturbed by the ungracious elements
without. At 5.30 p.m., the whole family — boys, girls and
288 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
teachers— assembled for tea in the boys' dining-room, towards
the appropriate decoration of which all the artistic skill of the
establishment had brought its tribute. Chief amongst the
interesting adornments were a portrait of the Prince at one
end of the room and, at the other, that of the Princess ac-
companied with the legend " Welcome to the Pearl of Denmark,"
whilst over one mantel-piece hung one of the Queen and, over
the other, that of her lamented Consort under-scribed with
the lines : —
" Oh, silent father of our kings to be,
Mourned in this golden hour of jubilee."
Amidst the numerous improvements witnessed within the last
thirty years, there has not yet come that spacious Salle de reunion
wherein this large household may with comfort assemble on
occasions such as this, with space for freedom of movement and
bright and happy merriment. The complexion of the entertain-
ments of such seasons is consequently less varied than might
be desired. If all meet together at all, they must meet with
close-packed elbows, and their pursuits must be sedentary. Yet
we have never heard that the readings and addresses usually
offered on such great days at Ackworth were other than pleasant,
recreative amusements. But inasmuch as those pursuits in
which the mind can experience the force of personal participa-
tion — in which it can appropriate the language " Et quorum pars
magna fur — are eminently the most enjoyable and exhilarating,
it is perhaps to be regretted that so little opportunity exists for
the mutual engagement of the whole household in recreations
in which a more wide-spread share of activities may have a place.
The evening in question, passed like others of its kind, was a
happy success.
In the Summer of 1863, John Newby retired from his long
service to Ackworth School. As an officer in the Institution
he had spent close upon forty-four years of his life. It was his
good fortune to pass through the period of apprenticeship when
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 289
a fine spirit of earnest mental activity prevailed amongst the
teachers, and many of the thorough habits then acquired
remained with him through life, enabling him, long after the
active compeers of his earlier years had passed from the scene,
to hand on the torch of intellectual aspiration to generation?
they never knew. To whole epochs he was the centre of almost
every literary movement that had its place in the boys' leisure.
Though remarkably deliberate in all his work — for the slightest
approach to hurry in it seemed foreign to him — he accomplished
an extraordinary amount of very finished preparations for his
various lectures, societies, papers, &c. He accounted no time
lost which was spent in bringing his efforts to their highest per-
fection. The result of the influence of such labour it is almost
impossible even for contemporaries and participants to gauge,
but we apprehend that very large numbers of old scholars trace
the germs of some of their best mental culture to agencies over
which he presided, or to his own more direct teachings. We
have already had to refer, questioningly, to the disciplinary
policy of one period of his life, and we believe that, had its
complexion been more genial, his training of the intellectual
habits of those who came more immediately under his influence
would have been even more successful than it was His
views on education were eminently sound, and his teaching was
strikingly distinguished by a demand full of wilfulness, for
thorough work, and a skill in drawing out and quickening the
latent powers of his pupils. All shams and superficiality he
abhorred : cramming he despised. This quality of sincerity led
him, perhaps all too defiantly, to mistrust and reject the demand
for a more expansive and higher class education. What he
accomplished, by adherence to his own views, we know was emi-
nently good ; what he might have effected had he complied with
the increasing desire for a more elastic system and a broader
basis, we can only surmise, with a regret that he did not, at least
experimentally, adapt his system to the scale of the advancing
educational mind, that we might have had the opinion of his
290 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
ocperience on the comparative virtues of a limited and a broader
range of study for a school like Ackworth, so large a proportion
of whose pupils do not extend the period of study beyond the
age of fifteen. John Newby's active life did not terminate with
his retirement from the School. A glance at the notice of him
in the "Annual Monitor" for 1877 will shew that he continued
for several years a diligent and valuable labourer in many fields
of educational, benevolent and religious enterprise. During
this period, also, he edited for eight or nine years the little
Annual just named. His death took place in 1876. On his
retirement, Thomas Puplett became the teacher of the Tenth
Class, and John W. Watson took the post of Master on Duty,
vacant by the change.
The Committee had now, for several years, had the satisfaction
of knowing that their earnest and liberal exertions to elevate the
tone of the School, to advance its educational style and to
improve its premises were bearing much fruit. It had witnessed
a ready and generous response from Friends generally, whenever
it had asked for their pecuniary support for any great improve-
ment ; proving, thus, the high confidence in which it was held
by those who had delegated the great trust to its guidance. Yet
one difficulty constantly beset it, now that it had secured a
prosperous condition to the internal affairs of the School. The
current finance grew ever more perplexing. We have seen that,
in 1851, butcher's meat was but four-pence farthing a pound.
In 1864, it had risen to upwards of seven-pence and, in 1866,
was more than eight-pence, whilst the consumption was on an
increasingly liberal scale. Many good private schools had
sprung into existence and probably somewhat unfavourably
affected the numbers at Ackworth. In 1862, there were 171
boys and 113 girls in the School, but there were but 1 4 children
on, the list. In 1864, the number was still further reduced,
there being only 157 boys in the school and no girls; whilst, in
the autumn of 1868, there were but 151 boys and 104 girls and
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 29 1
only six children on the list. This reduction of the numbers
told seriously upon the average cost per head, as some of the
principal sources of expenditure continued in force, however low
the numbers. Greater demand for a higher efficiency in the
teaching department had, of course, proportionately driven up
the item of Salaries, so that a department of expenditure, which
absorbed only ^2 9s. per head forty years before, required
;^8 9s. to cover it in 1865. With the prospect of a con-
tinual rise in this item, the terms were again raised in that year
from £\2, ;^i6 and ^21, to £\t„ ;^i8and^24; and to
these, in 1870, a fourth term of ^£28 was added. The number
of boys was then so small that all were comprised in eight classes,
and the nomenclature of the latter being no longer tenable, a
complete change was made in it ; the numbers of the classes
were reversed, the Tenth, or highest, becoming the First.
In order to increase the number of children, the Com-
mittee opened the School to those " from beyond the limits of
Great Britain, being members of the Society of Friends, to be
admitted at the highest rate for the time being, when the School
was not full ;" and, also, to "a number of children carefully
selected, not in membership with the Society of Friends, to be
admitted, when the School was not full, at the highest rate of
payment, at the discretion of the Committee." By virtue of
this clause, seven children who were not members were voted
into the School in the following Spring. Still, the expenditure
was always in excess of the income and, three years after the
;^28 was added, a revision of the' 'scale of charges was made,
when it was resolved that it should consist of the four sums —
£\^, £20, ;^26 and ;!^32. This latter arrangement resulted,
in 1874, in an increased average payment from each child of
£2 6s. and an average payment per child of ;^2i 9s. 7d. But
so large had been the deficiencies of some past years, that the
Institution was so much in debt that it was thought advisable,
in 1875, to obtain a loan from York Retreat of ;^4,ooo. By
u 2
292 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the independent personal effort of William Abbatt, of Bolton,
the sum of ^925 was obtained in donations towards the allevia-
tion of this distressing state of the finances. In 1875, the
income, for the first time for many years, exceeded the expendi-
ture; but, in order to get the financial affairs of the School into
a satisfactory condition, an additional rate of payment of ;^4o
per annum was introduced in 1876 ; and the General Meeting,
that year, appealed to Friends generally for an increase in the
annual subscriptions, which, on the average of the last few
years, would appear to have been smaller in amount than at
almost any time in the experience of the Institution. This
deficiency in the subscriptions probably arose from the in-
creasingly prevalent opinion that many children were receiving
the advantage of the contributions of Friends for whom they were
not intended. To clear away this and some other mistaken im-
pressions, the Committee drew public attention to the fact that
the loss then sustained by the Institution upon the 180 children
paying the two lowest rates was ;^2,g8o per year, which sum
was greater than the income from all charitable sources, taking
the average of the previous ten years, by ;^i36 ; whilst a loss
of ^2, 019, or;^232 more than the subscriptions and donations
combined, taking a similar average, arose from the 109 who
paid the lowest rate. How far the deficiency existed in certain
districts may be judged from an example prepared to sustain
the force of an appeal to the Lancashire and Cheshire Friends
for assistance from their wealthy Hardshaw Estate; and, in
quoting this, we may mention that the case of Yorkshire was no
better. It was shown that, of the 43 children from the Lanca-
shire and Cheshire Quarterly Meeting —
The cost at ;^33 17s. 8d. per head was ' ' 1,456 ,^g g
13 of these paid ^15 each ig^ o o
16 ri ri £7,0
4 .1 " ^26
10 „ „ £7,2
320 o o
104 o o
320 o o
Total receipts from children 030
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 293
;f s. d. £ s. d.
Brought forward 939 o o 1,456 19 8
Annual Subscriptions for ordinary 1
expenditure from tlie Quarterly \ 181 6 6
Meeting ^ 1. 120 6 6
Leaving a deficit of 30 per cent, on their payments £ 336 13 2
Mary Ann Speciall, having occupied the post of Gover-
ness for 17 years, resigned it in 1867, on account of ill-health,
and was succeeded by Rachel Elizabeth Stone, who still
occupies it, though about to retire, after a dozen years of
acceptable service, from the failure of her health.
After an attack of scarlatina, which necessitated the omission
of the Autumn Examination of 1870, a very extensive scheme
of drainage was carried out, under the superintendence of a
practical man furnished by John Dunning, civil engineer, of
Middlesborough. The work employed a large number of
hands for some months and cost ;^4S9. A filtering service
was also supplied to the main cistern.
In the Spring of 1872, Messrs. Stanly Walton, M.A. and
George Bently Morley, M.A., nominated by the Syndicate of
Cambridge University, examined the School by request of the
Committee. Their general opinion of its educational state may
be gathered from the following Minute of the Committee, con-
taining a digest of their report : —
' ' Whilst they candidly point out branches of instruction that appear to
them insufficiently taught, they have spoken in terms of warm commendation
of the important departments of Reading, Writing, and Spelling, in all
classes, on both sides of the house. As regards English Grammar also,
they report the knowledge of accidence is very good throughout the School.
Elementary Arithmetic in the lower classes is also reported as very good,
but they complain of a want of knowledge in the higher classes of the
principles of the science. Questions were accurately worked, but solved
by stated rules. The viva voce examination in Geography and History gave
a more favourable impression than the results on paper. The Examiners put
294 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
a low estimate on the attainments in French and Latin. The Committee
will have an opportunity of judging how far the questions proposed in
Mensuration, Algebra, and Euclid were within or without the range of the
teaching. The Examiners speak with unqualified disappointment of the
results of the teaching in these departments. They suggest the expediency
of adopting departmental teaching in the School."
Very extensive alterations having been effected in the depart-
ments of the laundry, washing mill, bakehouse, &c., the
Committee was informed that the whole cost— amounting to
;^3,i20 — had been discharged by the liberality of Joseph Pease.
In 1872, the members of the "Dietary Committee" pro-
posed some important changes. They recommended, amongst
other things, that, in the purchase of butcher's meat, good
joints only should be taken, not " whole sides," as had been
the practice, and that it should be bought in the open market
instead of by contract. They suggested that pure unskimmed
milk, only, should be given at the morning and evening meals,
a pint and a half per child per diem, and that a wider range of
green vegetables should be liberally supplied. They also
proposed several changes in the service and utensils of the
dining-room and advised that arrangements should be made
for the teachers to dine with the children. These proposals
were adopted but the new arrangement for the dining of the
teachers did not come into operation until the following year.
Having very acceptably filled the office of Superintendent
for ten years and believing that it would be right for him to be
more at liberty to serve his Divine Master, as a Minister of
the Gospel, than his arduous and responsible duties permitted
him to be, George Satterthwaite gave notice of his wish, in
Sixth Month, 1872, to resign his post at the end of twelve
months. Under the circumstances, the Committee felt it had
no alternative to accepting the notice, whilst it expressed the
" deep sense it entertained of the valuable services which had
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 295
been rendered by George and Rachel Satterthwaite, and of the
conscientious way in which the varied duties of their re-
spective positions had been discharged during the last ten years."
It also confidently expressed its belief that " in retiring from their
official connection with the School they would carry with them
the love and esteem of very many for whom they had laboured,
and of those with whom they had been associated in the
management of the Institution."
In passing rapidly over the events of recent years, feeling
the ground too deUcately laid with the nerves of living men to
risk the possibility of paining the modesty, or other sentiments,
of the actors in the scenes of our little narrative, we have
avoided everything not already patent to a large public, and,
amongst other things, all reference to the admirable qualities of
large numbers of officers, on both sides of the house, who
have so long maintained, by their patient energy and con-
scientious zeal, the efficiency of the School in a high condition.
In recording the retirement of George and Rachel Satterthwaite,
however, we feel very anxious that our reticence should, at
no time or in any place, be ' misconstrued. With the ex-
ception of periods of sickness, we believe the superintendency
of these Friends was a time of almost uninterrupted prosperity
in the Institution ; and, that much was due under the Divine
blessing to the geniality and deep an^ tender interest in his
young charge, manifested throughout his rule by George
Satterthwaite, no one who knew his times will deny.
JosiAH AND Mary Hannah Evans were chosen to suc-
ceed George and Rachel Satterthwaite and entered upon their
duties after the Midsummer Holidays of 1873. Unlike his two
predecessors, Josiah Evans had been trained as a teacher from
his boyhood ; had had lar^e experience in his profession and
was familiar with the handling of large Schools. The Com-
mittee, desirous to utilize these great advantages possessed by
296 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
their new Superintendent, re-arranged the duties of the office
with the view of placing Josiah Evans more entirely at liberty
to superintend, control and participate in the religious and
intellectual culture of his charge. He was provided with a
House-Steward who was to relieve him in every practicable way
from mere household affairs, all farm and other business interests,
general accounts and correspondence of aformal or routine nature.
As was to be anticipated, Josiah Evans had formed his own
views on school polity and, prior to entering the School, proposed,
for the consideration of the Committee, a re-arrangement of the
classes more in harmony with his own sentiments on scholastic
government than the scheme in vogue. The Committee acqui-
esced in his proposal to divide the boys into rivE classes of
about thirty-five each and to place each of these classes under
the charge of an experienced master, who was to be assisted by
a junior teacher. The plan is still in operation, and has, we
believe, worked satisfactorily.
The girls' classes were arranged in a similar manner in 1874.
Thomas Puplett's health being far from strong, he retired at
this time from the mastership of the Tenth Class, but his influence
was felt to be of such value in the establishment that the Com-
mittee was very anxioi^ to retain him in some capacity and
finally induced him to assume the somewhat less laborious
charge of the lowest class or division, with the assistance of two
junior teachers. Benjamin Goouch, B.A., was appointed to the
First or highest class, over which he presided until 1875, when
he was succeeded by the present head-master, Albert Linney.
About a year after Josiah Evans assumed the charge of the
School an enquiry was instituted into the age of every boy and
the time he had been in his class and in the School, with the
following interesting average results : —
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
297
Class.
Age.
Time in the School.
Time in the Class
1st.
. 13 yrs. II mos.
... 3 yrs. I mo.
. 10 months.
2nd. .
. 13 yrs. 2 mos.
... 2 yrs. 5 mos. .
7 months.
3rd. .
. 12 yrs. 10 mos.
... 2 yrs. 2 mos. .
7 months.
4th. .
. 12 yrs. 5 mos.
... I yr. 5 mos. .
5 months.
Sth. .
. 1 1 yrs. 3 mos.
... oyr. 9 mos. .
Amongst the defective arrangements revealed by time and
the advance of enlightened views on sanitary matters, those
connected with the lavatory arrangements of the School long
called for attention, but it had been foreseen that an effective
and satisfactory supply of the requisite baths and lavatories
would be a costly work and one which could not be effected
without another of those public subscriptions which had, of
recent times, become numerous. On the want being made
known amongst Friends, a few months sufficed to raise nearly
four thousand pounds and, early in 1876, the works were com-
menced. A very handsome lavatory was constructed over the
tailor's and shoemaker's shops for the boys, which is approached
from the bedrooms by a corridor carried over the colonnade
and, from the play-ground, by a flight of stairs in the " narrow
passage" near the shed-court. Over the girls' colonnade, a suite
of twenty-four porcelain baths was erected for the use of both
sides of the house and, behind this, a lavatory for the use of
the girls. All the appointments of these rooins are admirable;
and the baths and lavatories now form quite a feature in the
establishment. The cost of their erection was ^£4,4^0.
Although a summer vacation had now been in vogue for
nearly thirty years, there was still no recess at Christmas. Many
Friends having often expressed their wish for the latter, a circular
was issued by Harrison Penney and Theodore West, in prospect
of a discussion of the question at the General Meeting of 1876,
by which the following sentiments were elicited from the parents
of the children : —
18 Friends strongly desire winter 2 Friends are undecided,
vacations. 2 Disapprove conditionally.
298 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
4 Emphatically approve them. 13 Disapprove.
117 Approve them. 24 No reply.
8 Approve them conditionally.
^Total of approvals. 41 Adverse or indifferent to them.
On the strength of these data, an experimental winter
vacation of eighteen days was allowed to those whose parents
desired to avail themselves of it, at the close of the year.
Unhappily, scarlatina broke out in the School soon after the
children re-assembled, and two deaths occurred from it ; but,
we believe, that evidence that the fever originated in the vacation
was not found, though sought for.
In the summer of 1877, Josiah Evans relinquished the ofifice
of Superintendent, and was succeeded in it by its present
occupant, Frederic Andrews.
The same year, the Committee's attention was called to the
existence of a considerable investment, known to the initiated
as the "Ackworth School Fund," and the following abstract
of its history was entered upon its minutes : —
" Isaac Smith bequeathed by his will, in 1797, a sum equivalent to ;^8oo
Consols, for apprenticing boys educated at Ackveorth School to handicraft
trades, and for providing them with tools at the close of their apprenticeship.
To this Fund Isaac Walker and David Barclay each added, in 1799, a
further amount of ;f 800, making together ;^2,400. In the following year
the trustees issued an advertisement stating their willingness to receive
further sums for the same object ; in response to which, Suffolk Quarterly
Meeting sent up ;^6 1 l6s., and Richard Reynolds contributed ;^lo5. The
original Trustees were — Joseph Smith, George Stacey, John Corbyn, Edward
Janson, Joseph Foster, Anthony Home, John Pim, jun. By some of the
early declarations of Trust, it appears that the term handicraft trades was to
be liberally construed, and was understood to include most, except those
especially excluded, which were Book-keeping, Shop-keeping, and the
learned Professions. In case Ackworth School were discontinued, the funds
were to be appliable for Boys who had been two years at any other approved
'school of the Society.'
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 299
" The amounts to be given were originally fij;e(l at ;^io for apprentice-
ship (the Parents being expected to find a further sum of /5 for this
purpose), and £t, for tools at the end of the term. In 1844, these amounts
were increased from ^10 to ^15 for Fees, and from ;^5 to ^10 for Tools.
"In 1801, subscriptions were raised, amounting to £<)2i°, for assisting
Girls who had been educated at Ackworth School in going into service. The
subscribers were limited in number, and David Barclay and Isaac Smith
appear to have been most prominent in raising and contributing to the
Fund. The trustees of it were the same as those of the Boys' Fund.
The recipients were to be not more than 14 years of age. They were to
have £t, to commence with— ;^2 at the end of the first year of service, fifty
shillings at the end of the second year, and £t, at the end of the third, if
their conduct had been good. If the income accumulated, the amounts
given were to be increased, and the premiums extended in such way as the
Trustees should judge expedient. In 1806, the age was extended to fifteen.
In 1 813, Francis Freshfield, of Colchester, gave ^^200 to the Girls' Fund."
Power v/2l% subsequently obtained for extending the benefits
of the Girls' Fund to servants during their fourth and fifth
years of service, at the end of vv^hich they might receive £,4.
and ;^5 respectively, provided their so doing did not prejudice
the objects of the original intention.
During the last forty years the Funds have not been heavily
drawn upon. Within that time, 170 apprenticeship premiums
have been paid to boys, and 107 gratuities at the termination of
apprenticeships.
Within the same period, 125 girls have received premiums
during their first year of service, 100 during their second year,
77 in their third, 26 in their fourth, and 11 in their fifth; whilst
fourteen girls have received gratuities from the Freshfield Fund.
At the close of 1876 the Funds stood as follows : —
Boys' Fund. £ a. d.
In 1854, the sum of £i^,tjOO Three per Centum Consolidated
Bank Annuities of 1 726, paid oif at par, were re-invested in
Three per Cent. Consols 5384 u 10
300 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
£ »■ d.
Brought forward S384 " 1°
Girls' Fund.
In 1854, the sum of ;f2,8oo Three per Centum Consols of 1726,
paid off at par, were re-invested in New Two-and-a-Half
per Cents 3o8o o o
Freshfield Fund.
In 1852, this Fund stood possessed, as at present, of New
Three per Cents 3°° o o
From accumulations from all three Funds have been
purchased as follows, viz. : —
Feb. I2th, 1853. Three per Cent. Consols ... ;^looo
Jan. loth, 1861. ditto ditto ... ;,flooo
2000 o o
o
Mar. 5th, 1867. Reduced Three per Cents 1000 o
April30th, 1872. New Three per Cents. 15°° o o
Nov. loth, 1876. ditto 1500 o o
£14764 II 10
The Balance of Cash in hand on the 30th of Dec, 1876, was;^l88 l6s. 3d.
The Income from these Funds is about ;^440 per annum.
In closing this attempt to record some of the chief features
and incidents of the history of Ackworth School during its first
Hundred Years, it is pleasant to reflect that whilst, for reasons
already mentioned, we have felt it difficult to avoid entering
into much detail in reference to recent years, those years have
witnessed an almost uninterrupted progress, socially, educa-
tionally, and morally. The School's first century has closed in
unclouded prosperity ; and, in the possession of such an Insti-
tution, the Society of Friends commands a lever fully capable,
we trust, of raising its next generations well upon the platform
of that broader and more active intelligence upon which the
aspirations of the age may place the masses of our countrymen.
Since the introduction of annual vacations — themselves, per-
haps, the most educational element ever introduced into
Ackworth School — the growth of wholesome activities rarely
appears to have flagged. The genial influences resulting from
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 3OI
periodical visits to the family circle and the consequent
realization amongst the children of wider responsibilities have,
doubtless, been powerful agents in ameliorating, if not of remov-
ing altogether, the ruder social elements of a prior epoch.
But, whilst crediting vacations with so much virtue, we are
much more anxious to acknowledge the value of the assiduous
manner in which, under the consciousness of the advancing
educational enlightenment of the country at large and, more
especially, under the stimulus of a desire to elevate the sanitary,
social and moral condition of the School, the members of the
Committee have laboured to secure the welfare of their charge.
Their efforts have received great support from the existence of
the Flounders College, which, since its opening in 1848, has
supplied it with a liberal choice of good teachers on the Boys'
side. The comfort of the children and the promotion of
everything calculated to furnish them with wholesome and
useful aims in life have been eminently kept in view, whilst the
education, if somewhat limited in range, has been studiously
preserved from superficiality. How far the Committee and the
staff will be able, under existing restrictions as to age of the
pupils, &c., to train the children in the higher education now
becoming so necessary to the leaders of society is yet to be
seen ; but a school which has aided Friends of former genera-
tions to keep, if not in advance of, at least abreast with, the
intelligence of their times, will not, we feel sure, be allowed to
lose anything of its influence without a struggle ; and we trust
that, whilst much difficulty may be experienced in adapting the
Institution to the new demands of a rapidly-advancing general
culture, means may continue to be discovered for developing
the intelligence of coming generations of Ackworth Scholars in
such a manner as shall do more than sustain the reputation of
a useful Past.
CHAPTER XVI.
OUR WALKS.
As this little book is prepared for such as are familiar with
the scene of its story, it would be a work of supererogation to
attempt a general description of Ackworth School, or of the
country in which it lieS'; yet it may not be altogether out of
place to recall to our readers' memories, in a very cursory
manner, a few of the features of the landmarks around which
cluster the pleasant reminiscences of so many of them. In the
rolling country around our old School, it may not be entirely
unpleasant to them once more, in imaginatioa, rapidly to revisit
with us some of the old haunts.
We will not dwell on the quiet but cheerful prospect which
presents itself to every lover of the country as he stands upon
the playground itself, but will leave the busy hive around and,
issuing from the premises by the noble modern entrance, turn
our steps towards High Ackworth. Yorkshire villages are not
proverbially beautiful ; but no visitor to this portion of Ackworth
will deny that it has some charms. Seen from a distance, as from
the top of " Robinson Close," it is always a picture. From this
particular point it is very pretty, especially towards sunset on a
summer's evening. As the eye sweeps down the green meadow-
lands to rest upon its russet and purple roofs intermingled with
abundant foliage and to follow the hnes of its old church tower
which crowns the gentle slope up which the little village climbs,
a well-timbered country bounding the view on either hand, it
experiences a satisfied and restful sense of completeness which
many villages in the county would not convey. Everyone who
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 303
has made hay in that field will remember the prospect well.
Viewed more closely, few old scholars will have failed to notice,
probably to admire, its comfortable cottages embowered in
gardens where old-fashioned roses and fragrant lavender bushes,
geraniums of primitive type and lilies — no less lovely for having
been the favourites of a grandmother generation — still maintain
the ascendancy over the pet cultures of our modern gardens.
But perhaps no feature of the place rests so distinctly on the
memory as its village-green. Who does not recall the old
substantial almshouses which Mary Lowther built in 1741 for
the use and comfort of six poor women and a schoolmaster ;
and what old scholar has not, standing with his back to them,
gazed up that village green, with its surrounding dwellings of
the elite of the inhabitants, and fixed his eye with admiration
upon its grand old giant elm, with its iron-bound cavernous
trunk, its great naked arms telling of generations of seasons and
storms, yet interspersed with luxuriant foliage testifying to the
yet unquenched vigour of its constitution. The Cross under the
shadow of this kingly tree has a curious history in its keeping.
From its steps, in^ the pre-Reformation times, the monks from
the neighbouring priory at Nostel were wont on Fridays and
Sundays to preach to the people. One of these, a man of
noble soul and kindly heart, won the affections of the people
in a wondrous manner. Children clung to his skirts in delight
and love — the strong man admired and revered him, the old
and weak reposed upon him as a pillar of strength and a tower
of refuge. But business or piety called him to Rome. The
villagers gave him their tears and he gave them his blessing.
Under the shadow of the Vatican he was smitten by the Plague
and died. Such was the love which his brethren of the Priory
bore him, that they could not rest without having him sepultured
in their midst. In its transit, the body passed through Ackwortb ;
and nothing would satisfy the ignorant but faithful love of his
old hearers but once more to see, even in death, the face of one
who had loved them so well. The leaden coffin was opened,
304 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the village was stricken" with the Plague and three or four
hundred fell victims to the dread visitant. The villagers were
taboo to all the neighbourhood ; and the great stone on Castle
Syke Hill on the Pontefract Road became, for many months,
the only point of contact between them and the outer world.
Upon that stone the Ackworth purchaser dropped his money
into a vessel of water, for which, a few hours afterwards, he
found his return in merchandise. We make no idle comment
on this history. We tell the tale as it was told to us.
Crossing the village-green we pass, on our left, the Rectory,
whose high garden wall and still loftier trees exclude the gaze of
the passenger from the sanctum within ; and leaving, on the
same hand, the noble grey tower and the handsome lych-gate
of the old church, let us turn into the footpath leading across
the foot of "Ackworth Park," once the residence of a gentleman
whose career was originally that of the professional pugilist, but
who, by the force of good sense, so ruled the circumstances of
his life that his later years were crowned with a wide-spread
respect and he finally attained the honour of a seat in Parlia-
ment for the borough of Pontefract. From this path in the
fields we have often witnessed the beautiful sunsets for which
we cannot but regard Ackworth as somewhat remarkable — their
characteristics being, not the gorgeous glories of those of more
hilly or mountainous regions, but such tranquil and more tender
effects as we see about the time of the vesper bell in the flats of
the Fen district when long reaches and ribs of cloud take up an
infinite variety of commingled hues and stretch their bands of
blue and purple and gold behind long, level ranges of brown trees.
But, turning on our path, we will re-cross the village-green
and, entering the road leading to Purston Jacklin, soon reach
Ackworth Old Hall. The dilapidated state of this once important
manor-house fills the mind with a sense of desolation and de-
parted bravery cognate with that which we suppose must have
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 305
taken possession of Tennyson when he sat down to pen his
" Mariana." Yet the desolation of our old grange is one full of
the picturesque; and dreary only from neglect, not from situation.
Standing upon an eminence not far from the high-road and
looking into and across the valley of the infant 'Went, this once
handsome Tudor dwelling, with its lines of muUioned windows
and its elegant gables, some of the latter now toppling to their fall,
its roof in holes, its accessory buildings a heap of ruins, has
just reached that hoary quality and suggestive weirdness which
would have rejoiced the author of the " Castle of Otranto." In
its old crumbling walls the white and the brown owl rear their
broods and furnish appropriate music in the gloaming. It has, of
course, long been haunted and has its secret chamber where the
notorious high vayman Nevison was wont to baffle his pursuers.
The fence still stands which surrounded the enclosure where
gallant squires and dames of high degree were once wont to
partake of such pleasures as bull and badger-baiting afforded to
the country gentry of a rough and stormy day.
By a foot-path through the fields, which passes by the Hall
and crosses the Went, let us go on to Hessle Green. But one
other haunt vies with this Common in the affections of old
scholars. How full of memories are its brook and its marsh,
its bushy hillocks and its tangled ravines ! How it used to delight
us to dam up its stream and to weave its rushes into coronals
and ornament them with forget-me-nots and wild roses ! How we
stormed the wasps' nests on the sandy hillock and counted with
pride our stings — how we sought to track the mole in his burrow
— how we got sloughed up to the knees in the boggy ground
whilst we fought each other with rag-wort, bracken and fox-glove
stems — how we chased the great dragon-flies and devoured the
luscious blackberries — all can tell. But chief amongst the de-
lights of this happy holiday resort, most will remember the wild
hue-and-cry which arose when a veritable rabbit showed its tail;
and the joyous race, amongst the bushes, of extemporized hounds
2o5 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
after extemporized hares. With -what exultant glee we bounded
over the greensward, dashed through the brackens, tore through
the bushes— none can tell who have not been compelled to take
their pleasures, for twenty-nine days every month, exclusively
upon gravel and pebbles. Hessle Green had its accessories, too,
and of these perhaps none surpassed, in its quiet rural attractions,
the foot-path through the fields leading to the front of Nostel
Priory. No lover of country scenes will forget that pathway by
the babbling brook whose rounded grassy banks, over-shadowed
by great wych-elms, seemed made for sunny days and the pages
of an old poet. The old dis-used bridle road, into which the
path runs, still, as of yore, has, in spring-time, primroses of the
finest and, in autumn, blackberries of the sweetest.
But, not to tarry here, let us leave Hessle Green by the road
debouching upon its south-west corner and proceed to that other
haunt dear to the memory of every old scholar— Bracken Hill.
We say old scholar advisedly, for we have recently stood on
that site of so much former pleasure and found questionable
indications there. The brackens yet flourish, the blackberry still
flowers there, the furze bushes wear their prickly mail as in days
gone by. Even the hare-bell still grows upon its bosky knolls.
But the spirit of rural quiet, once so pervasive, has fled for ever.
The unceasing clank and clatter of quarrying machinery have
invaded the neighbourhood ; ugly furnace-shafts pour out their
deluges of black smoke upon a place whose atmosphere was
once perfumed by the sweet-briar and the meadow-sweet. The
grand mounds, where the "French and English" of an earlier
and more warlike day contended for possession, bear no longer,
like many another once sanguinary field, the marks of masterful
strife. The wild rose and blackberry bush have taken undisputed
possession of the hillocks ; and the greensward, in the hollow
below, where defeated "forlorn hopes'' were wont to fling them-
selves down for a repose only a little less delicious than victory,
has been carved away by some vandal gardener. As if to remove
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 307
every vestige of poetry from the scene, the Parish Authorities
have constructed on the spot a perfidious looking trap of split-
rails intended to guide stray beasts into the adjacent pinfold.
We passed by the tenement where, less than a century ago, the
reputed witch once had her abode. Roses now bloom round
the cottage door, trim muslin curtains garnish the windows, and
one would scarcely be surprised to find against the pane a neat
little card with the legend " Appartements k Louer.'' Yet, in
spite of the smoke and noise of a prosperous industry and all
that follows in their train, Bracken Hill still holds up the mirror
pleasantly to the memory of past days.
Returnmg towards the school by Ackworth Moore Top, the
old scholar will still find the " Boot and Shoe " standing, and
will recollect it as the hostelry where the last of the old
coaches of the district stopped to convey them the first stages
of their journey home. The hamlet, near, is sadly disfigured
by the extension of its quarrying interests and retains few
attractions ; but, as we descend the hill leading to the main
village, we come upon what is usually considered the best view
of the School buildings. Great as are the changes which have
taken place durmg the last thirty years, their well-known
features, as seen from this road, have been so little altered
that, could the foundling of twelve decades ago look down
upon them, he would scarcely discover the changes which
have been made since his time. He might, possibly, observe
the increased elevation of the two wings ; he would, un-
doubtedly, see the once elegant colonnades, charged with piles of
masonry they were never intended to carry, looking crushed and
squat under their load, and he might question whether the tas.te
of an age were much in advance of his own which could permit
such dissimilarity in the roofs of these new supermcumbent
buildings, in an edifice built in a style in which well-balanced
regularity is an essential to beauty. All else in the fagade he
would find exactly like the picture in his memory. The " Great
X z
3o8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Garden "—so fertile in memories of toil and reward, so fruitful
in varied produce, yielding in good years, as in 1864, amongst
much, other fruit, 500 bushels of apples and pears and 300
quarts of stone fruit,— makes its best general display from this
road. We will not stay to speak of its well-remembered summer
nooks, but turning down Low Ackworth, whose sumptuous
growth of roses and sheaves of white lilies are so notable, will
take our way along the Darrington-road towards East Hardwick
— a place of secondary interest to Hessle or Bracken Hill, but
one which many will remember with pleasure on account of the
picturesque features of the little village. Seen for the first time
from the crown of the hill over which our way lies. East Hardwick
presents a singularly continental aspect— looks, indeed, very
much as if it had been imported from the heart of rural Germany.
Although, in childhood, buildings do not usually attract our very
close observation, unless their features are of a peculiar or
striking type, we think few will be unable to recall to memory
the picture of the huge old manor house, dwarfing the village —
its extensive red tiled granaries —its length of lofty and substantial
garden-wall — its mullioned windows, each of six equal lights —
and, more beautiful than all and the pride of the place, its fine
old gateway. In close proximity to, and in strange contrast
with, this severely handsome old residence now fast falling to
decay, stands a spick-and-span new church, hideous with cheap,
purple Welsh slate.. Happily its lantern-spire gives character to
the general mass of the village as seen from a distance, although
everything modern mars the sense of the fitness of things amidst
the irregularities and picturesque decay of the old village. Close
by, stands the handsome old EngUsh home — Houndhill Hall —
set, amongst its cedars and ancestral oaks. A mile distant, is the
pretty village of Carlton, whose attractive situation under the
shelter of a pleasant wooded ridge of land has led to a great
extension, in recent years, of elegant and comfortable homes.
Old scholars would here find themselves almost lost amongst
changes they would, nevertheless, admire. Our school-walks in
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 309
this direction used to bring us tantalisingly near to the crumbling
towers of Pomfret Castle, but our columns were, usually,
suddenly wheeled to the left' on reaching the Ackworth and
Pontefract Road.
Let us now stroll down through the meadows and corn-lands
which border the River Went, by the path which saunters along
by the pleasant little stream, wherein the water-hen and the
beautiful little water-rat still delight to disport themselves. This
quiet path leads us_ to Went-bridge and its once comfortable
hostelry on the "Great North Road "—one of those houses of
entertainment where men, hurrying by stage-coach between
London and York, could really take their well-earned " ease at
their Inn"; where every arrangement was made for making the
traveller at home ; where the well-bred host carved for his
guests at the head of his own table ; where huge fires were
always blazing in chilly weather ; and where all the discomfort
which the traveller experienced in inclement or stormy seasons
was temporarily cancelled and forgotten amidst the cheer and
entertainment of an institution second, perhaps, to none of
its day.
The sylvan charms of Went Vale, close at hand, were, in
bygone days at least, reser^'ed for a select class of excursionists
— the few companions of the walks of some teacher or visitor or,
at the most, for the members of the " Association." To such, a
visit to this secluded valley counted amongst the red-letter day
occurrences of a boyhood. From the pretty hamlet of Went-
bridge a stout walker, passing through the village of Badsworth,
with its fine old church and its handsomely-planted churchyard,
may reach, about a mile beyond this village, the Beacon at
Upton — a common object of our school walks. From its old
tower, on its commanding eminence, the Ackworth scholar took
his most extensive view of the great world beyond his own
microcosm. A fine view, too, and one that helped us to draw a
310 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
longer and freer breath, a keener relish of the world of Nature
than the habitual dweller in the valley can know. How we
strained our eyes, too, to see, from its crumbhng battlements, the
towers of York Minster ; but how much more anxiously still did
we gaze, each one in the direction in which he supposed his own
home to lie ! This was one of the many special influences
of this naked old tower. It had power to fill the least sensitive
with some tender feeling — to touch the most phlegmatic with a
momentary glow of kindly sentiment. It brought us nearer to
our own homes than any other place within the range of our
walks and, to the minds of children who were debarred for
years together from a nearer approach, this was no despicable
attribute.
An interesting cross-country road takes us from Upton to the
reedy mere at Hemsworth, dear to the memory of all water-
dabblers — a numerous race amongst school-boys of all time. Its
grand old mill-wheel was once an object of admiration and wonder
to our schoolfellows, amongst whom it was a current belief that that
of Laxey, only, surpassed it in diameter. In more recent times,
this little lake has acquired a still dearer celebrity as the best
skating ground in the district ; and future generations will, pro-
bably, on this ground, regard it with affection surpassing that
which other generations have felt for its wooded shores and
sedgy marge.
The modern visitor to Hemsworth has another advantage
over the older pedestrian. He may, by stepping into the rail-
way carriage, include in his excursion, without taxing his walking
powers, a visit to Nostel Priory. This handsome family resi-
dence of the Winns, containing a gallery of Flemish paintings,
stands in an extensive and beautifully-wooded Park and looks
down upon a fine ornamental piece of water of about 70 acres
in extent, across one portion of which the Wakefield and
Doncaster Road is bridged and affords the traveller an excellent
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 3II
view of the mansion and its attractive surroundings. The old
Austin Priory has long since mouldered away, but an interesting
little private church in the Park is worth a visit.
Returning through the village of Wragby, we may take an early
turn to the left and from a cross-country road which displays,
between the masses of trees in the Park, a fine view of the
north-east fagade of the Priory, we may either turn into the
bridle-road leading to Hessle or may reach the School by
turning to the right on reaching the Purston and Featherstone
Road.
Having now recalled most of the old local names familiar to
generations which had to content themselves with a dozen walks
in the year, we take leave of the subject without attempting to
particularise the numerous quiet haunts familiar to the more
favoured race which now possesses so much wider scope for
rural research. To it, this list of popular haunts may seem
meagre indeed, but, sympathising with its predecessors in their
stinted range of country pleasures and not despising
"the tender grace of a day that is dead,"
it may have some pleasure in reflecting that a brighter day has
dawned upon its own times, wherein the facilities for simple and
salutary intercourse with Nature are on a more liberal scale.
CHAPTER XVII.
SOME CELEBRITIES.
From an institution which has educated nearly 10,000
children, either partially or exclusively, it is often reasonably
asked what remarkable men or women it has sent forth. The
question would be very inappropriately answered were another
not previously discussed which should settle, in some measure,
the nature of the preparation for public life which the education
of Ackworth School has afforded to its inmates. It is clear
that it would be unreasonable to expect from children trained
more especially, by the plain character of their education, for
the plainer walks of life, that they should, in large numbers,
take possession of spheres of a much higher order.
Genius will, undoubtedly, often assert itself in spite of every
disadvantage, but schools cannot confer genius and should only
be asked for such fruits as, from their nature, they may be
expected to yield. Hitherto, Ackworth School has possessed
no facilities for placing its pupils on the high road to distin-
guished positions. It has never pretended to do much more
than give a sound rudimentary English education to children
whose school-life was supposed to terminate at the age of fourteen
or fifteen years. That has ever been its mission and it may,
perhaps, unflatteringly be said that it has largely fulfilled the
demand made upon it up to the present time.
Then, although a large majority of the families which have
supplied its scholars may, perhaps, have occupied tolerably
comfortable positions in life, they have rarely been sufficiently
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 313
wealthy to confer upon their children opportunities for carrying
forward their studies to a point where, in finer minds, the
ambition of literary distinction sets in, or for placing them in
positions of life whose surroundings nurture the cultivation of
bold aims or aspirations towards eminence in the -higher ranges
of public life.
For such usefulness as this School has been calculated to
furnish, we must look to the middle walks of life. We shall
then probably discover that its scholars have exerted an influence
out of all proportion to the smallness of their number. In the
exercise of benevolence and philanthropy, in the advancement
of liberal opinion, in the championship of the rights of a common
manhood, in the advocacy of temperance and justice ; by their
generous pecuniary support of all things useful to their fellow-
men, by their example of independence of thought and action —
we shall find them, for great part of a century, exerting a moral
force upon society at large of no ordinary kind. They have,
undoubtedly, been a power in the State. Whilst, individually,
few of them may have secured brilliant names, they have in the
aggregate borne a distinguished place amongst the agencies that
have moulded opinion, enforced the claims of justice, amelio-
rated the condition of fallen humanity and promoted upright-
ness and virtue.
Many of them have had scruples which did not permit them
to accept the office of the chief magistracy of their towns ; but,
as aldermen and councillors, they have been widely useful in
maintaining purity of municipal administration and in promoting
movements for the improvement of the sanitary condition of
our towns and the elevation of the moral welfare of the humbler
classes.
A glance at the index prefixed to the " List of Ackworth
Scholars," published this year by the Centenary Committee,
314 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
will reveal a galaxy of noble family-names to which many of
their bearers have done abundant honour in the manner above
referred to.
It would not be difficult to associate some old scholars with
relatives more distinguished than themselves ; as in the case of
Paul Naftel, of Guernsey, father of the celebrated artist, Paul
J. Naftel, who attributes his adoption of the profession to his
" father's great liking for Art and Artists " and who mentions*
his father's early love of drawing while at Ackworth (1804-1808)
but also his "difficulty in procuring drawing materials" whilst there.
When referring to this artist, it may not be out of place to
mention the names of two old Ackworth scholars who have
adopted Art as a profession with eminent success — William
Barnes Boadle and Richard Redfern — both of whom have
been represented in recent exhibitions of the Royal Academy —
the former in the department of Figure, the latter in that of
Landscape.
Of men more or less distinguished in the field of Science,
several names might be mentioned — among which would appear
that of William Allen Miller, author of " The Elements of
Chemistry, Theoretical and Practical," in three volumes — on
its appearance considered to be the most comprehensive and
valuable work on the general subject in our language — those
of George Stewartson Brady, M. D., F.L.S., Professor of
Natural History in the College of Physical Science, Newcastle,
and his brother, Henry Bowman Brady, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S.,
both of whom have gained honourable membership in several
learned societies both at home and abroad — and that of John
Gilbert Baker, who has earned a wide celebrity in the
Botanical world.
* In a letter to Joseph S. Hodgson, of Manchester.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 315
In the fields of philanthropy the ladies have not been behind
their brethren, but it has not been the fashion amongst them to
seek literary or scientific distinction. In the pursuit of a noble
purpose —that of elevating the tone of her fellow-countrywomen
— one of them has indeed gained considerable celebrity by her
pen. Mrs. Ellis — known to her school-fellows, about 1814-
1816, as Sarah Stickney — becoming impressed in early life with
a keen desire to see the state of education among her own sex
improved and the training of girls for after life raised by nobler
aims than she thought prevalent, resolved to aid, through the
press, the development of the floating aspirations, nascent
among some ranks of society, towards a higher life amongst the
women of our country. Her first efforts were embodied in her
" Pictures of Private Life " — a series of wholesome stories
intended, probably, to replace some of the objectionable fiction
then in vogue amongst young ladies, without taxing too severely
their powers of self-sacrifice in the reading tastes already formed,
but supplying lessons in life of great practical value compared
with much that was presented in the mass of the current
literature. She speedily rose to higher flights, however, and
it would probably be difficult to over-estimate the influence
exercised over our countrywomen of forty years ago by her
" Women of England " and its sequels — " The Daughters,"
"The Wives" and "The Mothers of England." Her "Sons
of the Soil " also obtained a very wide popularity as did also,
in a somewhat less degree, her " Education of Character."
Mrs. Ellis is the authoress of several other well-known works,
all of which are inspired by the same noble desire to serve
her generation by attracting it to a useful and lovable life. She
was married in 1837 to the Rev. William EUis — the well-known
missionary and the author of " Polynesian Researches," " The
History of Madagascar," &c.
About the time that Sarah Stickney was leaving Ackworth,
a little Scotch bo}-, of about eleven years of age, was entering
3l6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the School, who was destined, as the Right Honorable
James Wilson, to become one of the most distinguished
financiers of his time. He was born at Hawick in 1805 and
passed three years of his boyhood at Ackworth School where
he already displayed an unusual passion for figures. He
passed for an orderly, " good boy " amongst his school-fellows,
having been very favourably impressed by the influence of
Joseph John Gurney's efforts to interest the children in the
study of the Scriptures.
His ambition, on leaving School, was bounded by the
desire to become either a school-master or a farmer. For the
purpose of training in the former capacity he spent six months
in the Friends' School at Earl's Colne in Essex, but, not finding
the profession of teacher so agreeable as he had anticipated,
he joined his brother William who was just establishing himself
in business as a hatter in his native town of Hawick. In 1823,
when only about eighteen years of age, he joined his brother
and a young man named Irwin, of Carlisle, in partnership in
the hatter's business in London. The firm was successful but,
in 1837, by a speculation in indigo which turned out dis-
astrously, James Wilson's losses were so serious as to necessi-
tate an arrangement with his creditors. We mention this
circumstance simply to shew the sense of honour which ruled
his life. Having been able to hand over to his creditors
securities which they considered of ample value, he was
released from all further obligations. Several years afterwards,
he discovered that these securities had proved deceptive, and
that his creditors had been considerable losers. Unsolicited,
he at once advanced every penny of the deficiency.
In the home at Hawick, the family circle, whilst many of
its members were very young, had taken deep interest in all
great questions aff"ecting the public welfare— notably in those
of Parliamentary Reform and the pressing need for a change in
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 317
the Corn Laws — -and, when the two brothers were settled in
London, the links of interest in such questions were closely
maintained between the various members of the family.
James Wilson had very early manifested a literary turn of
mind and about 1835 or 6, he began to write the leading
money articles for the " Morning Chronicle." When, in 1838,
the Anti-Corn Law Association of Manchester was formed, few
men proved more ready or more able to adopt the advocacy of
its aims than Mr. Wilson. The following year he published an
effective pamphlet entitled " Influences of the Corn Laws as
affecting all classes, especially the Landed Interests"; and, soon
after the organisation of the Anti-Corn Law League, he again
struck a heavy blow at protection in his " Fluctuations of
Currency, Commerce and Manufactures, referable to the Corn
Laws."
When, in 1841, the Chancellor of the Exchequer found
himself entangled in the meshes of a deficit of over two
millions, Mr. Wilson, in preparing his usual article for the
" Morning Chronicle," in which he assailed the principle in-
volved in the proposals for meeting it, found the argument
expand into the dimensions of a pamphlet which he published
■under the title of " What should the Chancellor do ?," in which
he advocated, instead of further taxation, the remedy of
Free Trade. As a first step towards the repeal of the Corn
Laws, he proposed a uniform duty of eight shillings on
imported corn, and this suggestion was adopted by Lord John
Russell in the Corn Law Bill' he introduced that year but which
was thrown out.
Mr. Wilson had now resolved to devote his life to political
economy, and, as the vehicle of his views, started the
"Economist" in 1843, editing the paper himself for many
years. This paper estabHshed him as one of the highest
3l8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
authorities in political finance in the kingdom and paved his
way to a seat in Parliament, to which he was elected, as
member for Westbury, in 1847. His career now became
rapid. The House at once recognised in him one of the most
promising of its rising statesmen. He became one of the
Secretaries to the Board of Control soon after entering
Parliament and retained the office until the resignation of the
Russell Mmistry. On the Liberals again taking office, Mr.
Wilson became Financial Secretary to the Treasury. " During
his tenure of this difficult office," writes Mr. Walter Bagehot*
" he acquired, amongst the best judges and closest observers,
a permanent reputation as one of the best administrators of the
day." He held the post for five years.
When the next Liberal Mmistry came to power, its energies
were taxed to the uttermost by the desperate state of the
Financial affairs ot India. The tangle into which all de-
partments in that unhappy country had drifted, during and since
the mutiny of 1857, was such that the Government at home
felt that a crisis of the gravest character was pendent. Every
day the difficulty and perplexity grew in magnitude. On
coming to power, the Ministry had appointed Mr. Wilson
Vice-President of the Board of Trade and, in the sumrner of
the same year, 1859, Financial Member of the Council of
India. All parties in the House looked upon him as the man
most likely to cope with the disorganized finances of our great
dependency and, on the 20th of October he sailed for India.
He appears to have worked hard all the voyage and, on his
arrrival at Calcutta, altogether forgetful of himself, he laboured
assiduously as in the old days at the Treasury at home. " The
gigantic difficulties," as he himself styles them, which he found
himself called upon to encounter, exceeded his expectations;
Encyclopaedia Britannica.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 319
but the generous and hearty assistance and co-operation he met
with from his colleagues in council, from the heads of depart-
ments, members of the civil service, leading commercial gentle-
men. Native and European, supported by his fever for work,
rapidly enabled him to gain a complete mastery of the situation.
For the purpose of placing himself en 7-apport with native feel-
ing and acquiring a personal knowledge of the country and
people for whom he was called to legislate, he made a long
journey from Calcutta to Lahore, visiting " every town and city
over that extensive tract." In spite of this arduous journey, he
was able, within little more than two months from landing, to
present his Financial Statement to the Legislative Council in
Calcutta, on the i8th of Second Month, i860.
Rapidly glancing, in this statement, at the condition of the
population of India as he found it by personal contact and from
competently informed authorities, he declares that, " by the
power of our arms and the courage of our civil administration,
a well-founded feeling of greater security pervades India than
at any former time, yet," he adds, " it is unfortunately no secret
that an evil of the greatest magnitude is corroding the very
heart of our political existence." " That financial disorder
which so notoriously prevailed " displayed a deficiency of up-
wards of nine millions and a quarter sterhng of income as against
expenditure of the current year and, in the last three years, an
aggregate deficiency of thirty millions and a half sterling. Dur-
ing those three years, also, the debt of India had increased from
fifty-nine and a half millions to nearly ninety-eight millions,
implying an annual charge of four millions and a half. This
" predicament " was further aggravated by the inconsistencies
in the accounts arising out of the difficulties of "the tragic
events of the last three years."
Confronted by this gigantic deficit, Mr. Wilson first turned
his attention to the consideration of the economy which might
320 HISTORY OK ACKWORTH SCHOOL
be exercised in the administration. He was the last of men to
entertain any scheme forsaving moneyat the expense of efficiency.
The civil administration he considered to be workmg at the
lowest figure possible. But the military expenditure he believed
might be considerably reduced by " a better distribution of the
forces," "by reducing the Army Finance to order," by the exercise
of " control in the commissariat and military expenditure" and
by transferring many duties then performed by soldiery to a
weH-organised police force. But the utmost that could be saved
in this and other departments was comparatively little. The
revenue had, hitherto, been derived largely from the land-tax
and the duty on opium, neither of which resources was very
elastic. Mr. Wilson was conscious that additional taxation in
some form could alone meet the difficulty. He appears to have
considered the feelings and interests of the native community
very tenderly when preparing this unpalatable part of his scheme.
He even consulted " the ancient sacred authority of Menu and
the version of the ancient Hindoo Law " that he might not un-
necessarily or unwittingly tread upon native prejudice or religious
scruples. Considering it of the greatest importance that the
industry of the people should be encouraged in every possible
way, he proposed to remit taxation where it threatened to inter-
fere with the development of the resources of the country, and
freed wool, hide, hemp, flax, jute and tea from all export duty.
Indeed his general policy was to relieve exports, whilst more
freely taxing imports.
It was Mr. Wilson's belief that the populations of India were
in an increasingly prosperous state. He found that, within a
few years, wages had greatly increased in some districts — being
in some two, in others three-fold what they were — and he resolved
to suggest an Income Tax, " universal and equal in its applica-
tion to all alike within a certain limit of income." In order to
avoid unnecessary and obnoxious enquiry into the incomes of
the .lower classes, he proposed that the income tax should, in
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 321
their case, take the form of a trade-license, by means of which
artizans should be made to pay a Rupee (two shillings) per annum,
retail shopkeepers, &c. four Rupees, small traders, bankers,
manufacturers, &c. ten Rupees. All incomes above 200 Rupees
and under 500 were to be subjected to an income-tax proper of
two per cent, whilst incomes of 500 Rupees and over were to
pay three per cent, to the public treasury and one per cent, to a
fund for local purposes. This arrangement was adopted by the
Government, for the whole Empire.
A fortnight after presenting his Budget, Mr. Wilson delivered
an elaborately prepared address in the Legislative Council in
advocacy of a paper currency for India.
He displayed a perfect passion for public work. Every de-
partment of the Government machinery he studied with an
energy he could not have exceeded had each one been his own
special branch. Speaking of the enormous difficulties involved
in his work, he says, in a letter to Mr. Bagehot of Seventh Month
19th, i860 —
" The English Treasury is nothing to it for complexity, diversity and re-
moteness of the points of action. Our great enemies are Time and Distance : —
and with all our Frontier Territories there is scarcely a day passes that we
have not an account of some new war or inroad. It is a most unwieldy
Empire to be governed on the principle of forcing civilization at every point
of it."
After referring to numerous petty difficulties on the frontiers
of Scinde and in Cabul, raids in the Punjab, misunderstandings
with Nepal, inroads from savage tribes behind Assam, &c., &c.,
he continues : —
"Besides all this, we have a thousand questions of internal administra-
tion rendered more difficult by the ill-defined relations between the Supreme
and the Subordinate Governments* — the latter always striving to encroach,
* The Government of Calcutta and the two subordinate presidencies.
32 2 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
the former to hold its own. Hence, questions do not come to us simply on
their merits but often as involving these doubtful rights. Then we have
defective Courts of Justice to reform as well as all other institutions of a
domestic kind — not to reform alone but to extend to new Territories * *
*****! have now got a Military Finance Commission in full swing :
a Civil Finance Commission also going : I am re-organizing the Finance Pay
and Accountant General department, in order to get all the advantages of
the English system of Estimates, Pay Office and Audit : — and these with as
little disturbance of existing plans as possible. The latter is a point I have
specially aimed at. On the whole and almost without an exception, I have
wilUng allies in all the existing offices. No attempt that I see is anywhere
made to thwart or impede.
"You can well understand how full my hands are ; if, to all these, you
add the New Currency arrangements, you will not then wonder that my
health has rendered it necessary to come down here (Barrakpore) to get some
fresh air."
Alas ! It was all too late for fresh air. He had worked like a
giant and too much despised the premonitory indications of the
approach of illness. On the evening of the 2nd of Eighth
Month he was taken seriously ill and rapidly grew weaker.
Four days afterwards he insisted upon the doctors telling him the
worst, saying that " suspense was worse than the worst they
could tell him.'' On learning that he was in great danger, his
son-in-law— William Stirling Halsey, who, although himself ill,
faithfully attended him to the last — says that Mr. Wilson
" prepared himself for death with as much decision and calm-
ness as he had shown in every act of his life." He had long
been urged to leave and get to sea and, even now. Lord Canning
offered to delay the sailing of the steamer with the mails for
some days if the doctors could say there was a chance of his
going by it, but this they could not do. The disorder-
dysentery— rapidly sped its course and he died on the nth of
Eighth Month, i860.
His death was felt to be a public calamity of the greatest
magnitude and, says Mr. Bagehot in the article previously
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 323
referred to, "the regret felt at Calcutta was, perhaps, unex-
ampled. The higher classes, without exception, and almost the
whole population attended his funeral and, when the news of
his death arrived in England, it was felt there, also, that in such
a crisis, at such a post, the loss of such a man was hardly to be
replaced."
Amongst Indian Financiers the name of the Right Honorable
James Wilson will last for generations and, not less honorable to
him than his administrative ability, will so long shine his
unswerving consideration for the welfare of the native com-
munity.
The influence of Ackworth School was probably much greater
upon the character and career of the Right Hon. James Wilson
than upon those of another great statesman whom all Ackworth
scholars are proud to number amongst themselves. John
Bright was at the school only a single year and it may be
questioned if his after-life havp borne much, if any, impress of
that brief sojourn there, but probably few sections of English-
men have followed his career with more profound sympathy
than Ackworth scholars. Having .assisted in making much
important political history, we trust he may long live to make
more. We shall, appropriately we think, limit our observations
on his career to a few important data.
Born at Greenbank, Rochdale, at the close of 1811, John
Bright went to Ackworth School in 1822 and was placed, at an
early age, in his father's business, which was that of a carpet
manufacturer. His public life may be said to have commenced
with the Corn Law agitation; and when that movement took
definite national form by the inauguration of the Anti-Corn
Law League in 1839, he threw the force of his ardent nature
into the work. In association with Richard Cobden and others,
he took an active part in the country campaign then commenced
324 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
for the promulgation of Free-Trade doctrines ; and when, in
1843, the League resolved to storm the Metropolis, for which
purpose Drury Lane and, afterwards, Covent Garden Theatres
were engaged, his eloquent and earnest advocacy created an
extraordinary enthusiasm in the vast concourses which gathered
there. Opposition of the most violent and, sometimes, most
unscrupulous character beset the apostles of Free Trade in corn,
but its advocates proved equal to every demand upon their
resources. " Cobden and Bright were ubiquitous, holding
meetings and carrying all before them wherever they went"*
In 1843 John Bright was elected Member of Parliament for
Durham amidst great excitement and opposition. His early
Parliamentary career was marked, not only by his able advocacy
of the cause which led him to adopt it, but by a vigorous
onslaught upon the Game Laws and by an active interest in our
commercial relations with India. At the general election of
1847 John Bright was returned for Manchester. After the repeal
of the Corn Laws in 1846, he turned his attention to Financial
Reform generally, but especially to that of the Army and Navy.
The part John Bright took in connection with the Crimean
War so offended the military interests and the martial senti-
ments of the time that his popularity amongst his constituents
was for a time sufficiently undermined to lead to his rejection
by Manchester in the election of 1857, though the loss of his
seat there was quickly more than compensated for by the
unopposed election of him to one for Birmingham, which he
has ever since retained. In the agitation for Parliamentary
Reform which took definite shape in 1858, John Bright became
the leader and life of the movement ; and so bold and decided
became the voice of the country, through his agency largely,
that both parties in the House were alike convinced that they
* Molesworth.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 325
could no longer neglect the demand for a large extension of the
franchise.
When, at the close of 1868, the D'Israeli ministry collapsed
and Mr. Gladstone was sent for to form a new administration,
John Bright became President of the Board of Trade.
It would be beyond the limits within which we desire to
confine ourselves, to dwell upon the influence or the quality of
the gift of oratory by which John Bright has, for forty years, been
wont to stir the blood of his fellow-countrymen, to vitalise their
intelligence and to energise their convictions ; but, as we write
these notes, the AthencBum's review of his latest volume of
Speeches, edited by J. E. Thorold Rogers, comes to hand and
we are tempted to quote the opening lines of it : —
"The speeches of Mr. Bright have a. greater literary value than those of
any other orator of our time. They are finished in all their parts, resembling
in this the masterpieces of Greece and Rome. So good are they as pieces of
composition, that they may almost be called studies in oratory. Such an
appellation, however, would misrepresent their intent and their effect. They
are emphatically practical, and fitted to persuade or convince an audience to
sanction and support a given policy. The earnestness ■ of the orator is, in
this case, the characteristic of liis eloquence."*
In the year 1802, Jeremiah Holmes Wiffen, then a little
boy of ten years, entered the school, where he remained until
1806. He first saw the light under the shadow of the noble
home of the Dukes of Bedford — Woburn Abbey — once an old
Cistercian house, then the abode of the noble family which was
to exert a powerful influence over the life of the child born to
John and Elizabeth Wiffen on the 13th of Twelfth Month, 1792.
He was a great favourite with his school-fellows from his
capacity for the invention of moving stories, with which he
enthralled his bedroom companions, and from his skill in
*Athenceum, July 26th, 1879.
326 HISTOR.Y OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
repeating old ballads. By the masters he was equally esteemed.
He was an admirable penman and one of the best mathema-
ticians in the school. Living long before the days of Associa-
tions for Essay Writing or Societies of Art, we do not hear of
much literary or artistic work performed whilst at school ; yet
we know that he might then have been eminent in both, for,
apart from the more prominent work of his life, he found time
to perfect himself in wood-engraving sufficiently to prepare a
series of blocks for the illustration of an edition of yEsop's
Fables, published at Leeds.
On leaving Ackworth in 1806, he was apprenticed to Isaac
Payne — school-master of Epping — for four years. Of studious
habits and devoted to his adopted profession, he was at that
early age obliged to cultivate his own pursuits by the midnight
lamp, as his school engagements absorbed the whole day to a
late hour. The habit thus laid continued with him through
much of his life. We have heard the son of an old friend of
his say that he not infrequently spent two, sometimes three
whole nights in the *eek upon his literary work when busy with
his translations for publication.
In 1819, he settled in his native village of Woburn as a school-
master and the same year published his "Aonian Hours and
other Poems." He had, as early as 181 2, appeared in print as
the author of a " Geographical Primer" and, a few years after
that, had written for Parry's History of Woburn some " spirited
stanzas " on the Russell portraits in the Abbey. These verses
are said to have attracted the notice of the Duke; and, the
" Aonian Hours " having still further favourably impressed him
with regard to the author's taste and culture, he offered him the
post of Librarian and Private Secretary in 1821, which appoint-
ment Wiffen retained until his death. It would have been
difficult to find an occupation more entirely in accord with his
tastes; and, as the Duke was usually from home for seven
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 327
months of the year, during which Wififen always remained at the
Abbey, his leisure for study'and literary pursuits was large. In
the company of a superb library of books, surrounded by a
magnificent collection of Vandykes and one little less remark-
able of the works of Canaletti and other artists, with a sculpture
gallery at his command enriched by the celebrated Lanti vase
and the great Ephesian sarcophagus embellished with Homeric
story, Jeremiah Wiffen settled down to the luxurious but busy
life of a literary recluse.
In 1820 he published his "Julia Apinula, the Captive of
Stamboul, and other Poems ;" and during the next ten years
continued, from time to time, to throw off", in periodicals, various
original poems, the one now best known, perhaps, being " The
Luck of Eden Hall," in the old ballad style. In 1833 he
produced his " Historical Memoirs of the House of Russell," in
three volumes — a work of great value as a faithful and vivid
picture of the fortunes of a great House which has often in-
fluenced the welfare of the country. But Wiffen's greatest
literary labours were in the field of translation, in which, until
recent years, he has had few equals. His rendering of the
verse of Garcilaso de la Vega is considered by eminent judges
as very masterly. In his translation of Sismondi's Literature of
Southern Europe, Mr. Roscoe, a fastidious critic, refers to " Mr.
Wiffen's very elegant and spirited translation of the works of
Garcilaso,'' and mentions the " able Essay on Spanish poetry "
prefixed to it. This translation of the great Spanish poet
appeared in 1822; and, in 1830, Wiffen published his translation
of Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered." The latterworkquicklypassed
through three editions and, whilst not competing with the quaint
vigourof Fairfax's translation, retains the first place in our language
as a popular and readable presentment of the great Italian.
Jeremiah Wiffen's knowledge of languages was more than
usually extensive. Besides his scholarly acquaintance with
328 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Italian and Spanish, he was a great student of Greek, Latin and
Hebrew, and was familiar with French and Welsh. From the
last-mentioned he produced many admired translations.
He died suddenly at the Abbey on the 2nd of Fifth Month,
1856, remaining to the last a staunch Friend. He was a
Member of the Royal Society of Literature, of the Royal
Academy of Madrid, and of the Society of Antiquaries of
Normandy.
Although much less extensively known than his brother,
Benjamin B. Wiffen, also an Ackworth Scholar, has acquired
a celebrity among the learned of every country by his literary
labours among the Works of the Old Spanish Reformers, in
whom he first became interested whilst visiting Spain, in
company with Geo. Wm. Alexander, in 1839, and again in 1843,
for the purpose of promoting the abolition of Spanish Slavery.
Benjamin Wiffen also cultivated the Muses and, although he
destroyed all his earlier work, he has left behind him poems
giving evidence of a gift kindred to that of his brother. He
was at Ackworth from 1803 to 1808.
Contemporary at Ackworth with the brothers Wiffen, was one
destined to speak to a far larger public in a much more popular
literature. William Howitt was born at Heanor, in Derby-
shire, in an old ancestral home, happily made familiar to the
youth of two generations in that happiest piece of all juvenile
literature — " The Boys' Country Book." His birth took place
on the i8th of Twelfth Month, 1792. He entered Ackworth
School in 1802 and remained there about four years. If his
literary career did not commence at Ackworth, it was not from
any deficiency in his imaginative activity. Like the elder
Wiffen, he delighted his school-fellows by the recitation of
charming stories coined in the mint of his own brain ; and he
had barely left school when, in 1808, he began to pubhsh his
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 329
own verses. His literary bent was emphasised, if not
determined, by his marriage, in his twenty-eighth year to Miss
Botham, of Uttoxeter — the lady who, as Mary Howitt, has
since become equally well-known with her husband in the world
of literature. There is something very charming in the double
yet united literary career of these two writers. With all the wide
variety of independent minds, we yet speak of them as if they
were one inseparable essence. The works of William and Mary
Howitt are linked by a sympathetic bond of lofty aspiration for
the weal of the public which they addressed and by a common
appreciation of the beauty of simplicity which render them as
much of one spirit as joint authorship could do. Their first
work was, indeed, probably intended to announce to the world
that they were about to tread one literary, as one conjugal path.
In the "Forest Minstrel" they pubHshed, in 1823, a mixed
collection of their own verses and, in the following years, they
were much associated together in providing popular articles for
the Annuals — a type of periodical which had a fashionable run
at that time and towards the success of which their works
materially contributed. They also wrote extensively for some
of the Magazines of the day and, through this medium, became
powerful agents in spreading a taste for pure and wholesome
reading. In after life, William Howitt associated himself more
decidedly in the management and ownership of periodicals of
this class — in 1846 with the "People's Journal" and, in the
following year, with " Howitt's Journal " — but these works were,
unhappily, not successful as business enterprises.
William Howitt's first important work of any magnitude was
the " Book of the Seasons," for which, although it had ulti-
mately a marked success and became very popular, the author
had a singularly arduous search for a publisher. The
" Athenseum " avers that so many had refused it that Wm.
Howitt resolved, if " Colburn and Bentley also rejected it,
to tie a stone round the manuscript and fling it over London
330 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
Bridge.'' This work was produced in 1831 and was followed,
thfee years afterwards, by a work which produced some hostile
commentators — " The History of Priestcraft in all Ages."
About 1837, he removed from Nottingham to Esher, where
he wrote several important works — the chief being a romance
entitled " Pantika," " Rural Life in England" and " Visits to
Remarkable Places and Scenes illustrative of striking passages
in English History and Poetry." His next three important
works were inspired by a residence in Germany, in which
country he settled for a while for the purpose of affording to
his children facilities for learning the language and otherwise
advancing their special culture. " The Student Life of
Germany" appeared in 1841 ; the year following, ''The Rural
and Domestic Life of Germany;" and, in 1844, his "German
Experiences."
But perhaps nothing came from his pen for many years
which so much attracted and charmed a large public as his
next work — " Homes and Haunts of the British Poets" —
published in 1847. His tender love for all poets and his
passion for haunts made sacred to sentiment by the foot-prints
of the great Dead gave him- peculiar aptitude for success in such
a theme, upon which he entered con amore. The work will
probably long out-live the two which succeeded it — " The
Hall and the Hamlet" and "Madame Donnington." The
former had we believe a considerable temporary popularity, but
we imagine that Wm. Howitt's most enthusiastic admirers do
not consider him a great novelist.
During the residence in Germany, Mary Howitt had become
deeply interested in the works of Frederika Bremer, all of
whose novels she afterwards translated. Her love for the
literature of Northern Europe widening, she and her husband
united their efforts in the production of " The History of the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 33 1
Literature of Scandinavia" — a work described as " unques-
tionably the only complete account of that interesting literature
in any language."*
Immediately after the issue of this important work in 1852,
William Howitt sailed for the Australian Colonies. The outcome
of that journey was a series of valuable and exceedingly interest-
ing works on Colonial life, then assuming a feverish activity from
recent discoveries of gold. The most permanently useful of these
works was probably his "History of Discovery in Australia," but
"Land, Labour and Gold" was, on its publication, read with great
avidity by all classes. Several other works had their origin in
the experiences of his Colonial travels, among which was his
" Letters on Transportation." But of all his voluminous
work, that which has probably done the greatest service to the
world and the one in which he himself felt the deepest
interest is the " Illustrated History of England," published by
Messrs. Cassell in nine large volumes, the chief part of which
is from Wm. Howitt's pen. The marked feature of this
history is the entire absence of the glorification of ambition,
the idolisation of unscrupulous heroism and the laudation of
that ^selfish spirit which would sacrifice Christian principle
to national aggrandisement. As the "Standard" newspaper
observed of it, " it is not what Green the historian calls 'a drum
and trumpet history ' but a history of the people written by one
of themselves." The work has passed through eight editions,
the first of which was one of a hundred thousand copies.
Retaining throughout life an ardent attachment to the general
principles of the Society in which he was born, it was to Wm.
Howitt one of the great satisfactions of his last days to reflect
that he had had the privilege of so widely presenting to the
British Public, in this History, views of the great events of their
country written in a spirit of sober christian responsibility in
332 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
harmony with principles which he had drunk in with boyhood
and in the truth of which old age had confirmed him.
That his interest in Friends did not abate with years may be
supposed from the fact that the last work upon which he was
engaged and upon which he had thought for ten years, but
which he was unfortunately not destined to finish, was a "Life
of George Fox and his Friends." Had his life been spared,
Wm. Howitt had hoped to finish the work during the course
of this year.
A marked feature of Wm. Howitt's life was the retention of
a clear and active intellect to the last. His interest in all that
helped to promote the moral welfare of his fellow men increased
with his'years, and the vigour and effectiveness with which, up
to a few months of his death, he addressed himself to questions
which he thought of consequence to humanity, may be seen by
reference to "Social Notes" of last year, in which he attacks
some practices associated with Vivisection in one article, the
kindred evil of cruelty to animals in another, and in a third
deals with the evils of smoking, especially amongst the young,
in a most lucid and convincing manner. Of these three
articles, a writer in the " Art Journal" for last May says they
have " all the fire of his manhood and the enthusiasm of his
youth ; it was difficult, in reading them, to believe they had
emanated from the mind and pen of a writer past four-score."
For many years William and Mary Howitt have resided in
Rome. In the autumn of last year, the former was attacked
by senile bronchitis which greatly prostrated him physically,
though it robbed him of none of his mental clearness. No serious
issue was apprehended from this disorder but, on the Third of
Third Month, 1879, he passed calmly away from a life which
had been full of a large personal happiness and one which had
brightened and benefitted those of thousands of his fellow-men.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 333
His two daughters and his son-in-law— Alaric A. Watts— aswell
as Mrs. Howitt, were with him in his last illness. By his daughter
Mrs. Watts we are told that his " end was peace and that the
spirit of perfect love, patience, gentleness, meekness and hope
in a future life which he displayed throughout his illness can
be pictured by those only who, like ourselves, were privileged
to attend upon him during the last few weeks of his hfe. He
met the approach of death with the same brave spirit and faith
in the love of our Heavenly Father with which he had ever
met trial in the course of his long life. Indeed he looked
forward with joy to the approaching change. * * # jjjg
last words addressed to us were thanks to the Almighty for
all his infinite goodness to him and blessing upon us all
upon his friends — upon, as he said, all the world."
He was interred in the Protestant Cemetery of Rome, on the
Fifth of Third Month. Large crowds of people, native and foreign,
gathered round his grave to pay the last testimony of affection
to one whose life had been so lovable and whose death was
so much lamented. In commenting upon the life that had
passed from their midst. Dr. Nevin, of the American Church in
the city, referrred to Wm. Howitt's "steadfast adherence to the
principles of the Society of Friends " and bore his " testimony
to the beautiful Christian virtues which had rendered his career
one so noble and useful and so universally beloved."
If anything were needed to testify to the attachment Wm.
Howitt ever retained for many of the principles of the Society
in which he was born and educated, it would be supplied in a
few words dictated to his daughter the day preceding his death
with which we shall conclude this brief sketch of this good
man's life : —
"My Father says that, in looking back upon his life, nothing gives him
more satisfaction than the recollection that in all his writings he has sought
to carry out the principles of the Society of Friends and he has sought to
334 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
carry out always their principles in life as well as in his writings, believing
them to be the complete expression of the pure Christianity of the Gospels."
Since writing the above we have received a copy of a poetical
review of the Hundred Years, bearing the signature E. B. P.,
which we are permitted to insert in this volume and which will,
we feel sure, secure the cordial appreciation of our readers.
SEEDTIME AND HARVEST.
The record of a Hundred Years of sowing ; —
Such is our Ackworth's Story ; — but no pen
Of mortal can indite that Chronicle ; —
And yet its Hundred Volumes all are writ, —
An Everlasting History. Now and then
A paragraph or section meets the eye,
Perhaps a chapter, — and we see how seed.
Sown painfully, with effort and with tears,
Hath yielded a rich harvest to the praise
Of Him who gave the increase, and thus blessed
The faithful sower's work. Varied the fields.
And varied too the increase ; thirty-fold
Sometimes, and sometimes sixty-fold the gain ;
A hundred even, where some special good
Of soil and circumstance, of sun and shower,
Wrought to a special blessing.
Ackworth's sons
And daughters have been scattered through the land.
And there are of them whose careers have been
So public we may trace them. First in rank
We place the men and women who have filled
The highest, noblest office man can hold, —
"Ambassadors for Christ," the "King of Kings,'
Or in their own dear land, or 'neath the palms
Of India, or in Afric's Martyr Isle.
Others, with busy hands, have wrought to clothe
The naked, feed the hungry ; — with swift feet
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 335
Have visited the sick, and sought to raise
The out-cast from despair, or borne with joy,
" The spoiling of their goods,'' and some have been
" The prisoners of the Lord" for conscience' sake.
Others have done good service to the State ;—
Of such, pre-eminent, on England's heart
And history, one name is ' ' vifritten large ; "
Her "Tribune of the People," whose wise words.
Truthful as eloquent, are weapons keen
In the great strife for Freedom and the Right.
And linked with him the Alpha of the League
That freed from tax a Nation's daily bread :
While one with them in aim, was he whose pen
Wrote to good purpose, and who served the State
In dusky India, where his ashes rest.
Nor of less value to the State their work
Who teach its children ; many such have gone
From Ackworth, and their forming touch will tell
For good, upon the England yet to be.
The wide domain of Literature hath sent
Its sheaves, full-eared and golden, by the hand
Of him who sleeps in Rome, whose vigorous pen
Death seized, ere he his loving tribute writ ; —
The pen that could with genial grace pourtray
The "Rural Life of England," — boldly write
The " History of Priestcraft," or enchain
The ear of boyhood with its country tales ;
Also by him who felt the powerful spell
Of the Italian Muse, and bade her sing
In our more rugged English ; while the Muse
Of Christian History claimed his brother's pen,
And fired his spirit to recount the deeds
Of Spain's Reformers ; and one gently sought
The Women of her country to inspire
With noblest motives and with highest aims.
From the fair fields of Science precious spoil
Hath been ingathered : one of Ackworth's sons
Shared in the Chatmoss victory ; and one.
336 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL
With dauntless courage, and with equal skill,
Rescued, from icy grasp of Arctic Seas,
The helpless remnant of a hapless crew,
And brought them home. ,From out her ranks have sprung
The skilled in brain and hand to bring relief
To sufferings of the flesh, or minds distraught ;
The wise in subtle chymic laws that rule
The elements ; those who through crystals clear
Revealed a world of wonder to our sight ;
Or, who, on Nature's marvellous page, have read
Creation's miracle in tree and flower.
And precious too have been the harvests reaped
In lowly fields unnumbered, all unknown
To fame, the while they yield the daily bread
Of our great Country's common, general life —
That life on which depends, and out of which
Must grow the higher, wider life of those,
Who, called to special service for their kind,
Stand forth conspicuous to the general eye.
Thus ends the Century with thankfulness
For Heavenly blessing upon earthly work ;
Not only increase given to good seed.
But finite errors and mistakes o'er-ruled
By Power, and Love, and Wisdom Infinite.
So stand we on the Present, looking back
And forward, — to the Hath-been and To-be ;
And with us two celestial visitants,
Their bright wings furled as meaning to remain
And dwell with us, sweet Gratitude and Hope.
TABLE SHEWING THE ANNUAL INCOME
FROM THE VARIOUS SOURCES OF REVENUE, FROM THE OPENING
OF THE SCHOOL TO THE PRESENT TIME.
Year.
From the
Children's
Payments.
From Annual
Subscriptions.
From Donations
and Legacies.
From
Endowment,
Rents, Dividends,
less Annuities.
BIB CO
1781
1782
1783
1784
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
179s
1796
1797
1798
1799
1 800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
2588
2639
2616
2712
2655
2564
2462
2310
2368
2491
2427
2520
2567
2686
2541
2559
2516
2592
2686
3146
3283
3696
3010
3'75
3616
3806
3678
3293
3186
3227
3198
6
6
8
2
3
3
14
IS
16
18
6
I
9
14
8
19
13
7
9
17
4
13
16
10
3
12
3
I
17 10
6 3
18 3
1382
877
1029
1593
1028
i°S3
III
963
872
873
871
670
1127
85s
801
1115
1550
1129
1259
1353
1221
1280
1259
1239
1346
1343
1158
1172
1 164
1134
"57
7
2
4
16
13
I
16
2
12
5
14
3
7
15
5
17
5
o
1
o
2
13
18
3
17
d.
o
o
6
o
9
9
o
6
3
6
£ s. d.
6 10
17 3
229
578
302
756
873
537
824
383
655
642
86
158
126
35
292
374
46
173
422
740
265
210
125
lOOI
Sio
117
381
420
1021
925
o
S
16
16
II
2
6
o
IS
7
16
7
6
o
3
16
16
o
o
o
5
o
10
II
o
10
I
o
3
5
280 16
384 14
287 14
507
338
323
335
293
441
513 15
472 6
384 8
265 4
241 4
305 14
248 2
216 14 10
223 7 o
221 14 10.
221 14 10
215 II 4
445 13 II
474 12
552 7
487 8
707 12
8io 6
944 14 II
936 9-1
95° 9 9
468 15 5
318
314
314
323
299
300
270
273
293
288
299
294
3°4
305
299
303
298
3°5
300
302
299
292
251
286
300
299
303
300
3°3
302
TABLE
SHEWING THE ANNUAL DISBURSEMENTS,
ARRANGED
[N DEPARTMENTS,
FROM THE OPENING
OF
PHE SCHOOL
TO THE
PRESENT TIME.
Year.
For Provisions.
For Clothing.
For Salaries
Wages.
and
For_ Repairs,
Depreciation, and all
other Incidentals.
£
S.
d.
£
S.
d.
£ s-
d.
£ s. d.
1781
2011
18
I
781
19
I
616 s
I
767 10 7
1782
1841
3
I
702
4
8
567 II
S
648 19 2
1783
2061
5
I
827
6
600 8
7
676 IS 4
1784
1987
19
9
858
17
2
567 IS
5
595 14 II
178s
1991
12
2
896
4
II
S48 19
10
703 4 10
1786
1838
3
890
12
9
S2S 7
10
760 12 c
1787
1994
II
9
993
7
5
570 16
545 3 II
1788
1891
17
I
771
12
II
S27 I
445 7 3
1789
1813
14
10
932
4
2
570 18
4
477 6 9
1790
2007
9
I
973
10
8
594 18
8
717 I 6
179I
1880
9
831
16
8
545 4
10
502 I
1792
1873
12
6
871
18
S
491 IS
I
484 s 10
1793
2109
4
7
866
6
II
469 4
6
459 10 5
1794
2074
4
10
953
8
8
434 17
6
S08 9 10
179s
2416
14
1
976
8
6
701 IS
9
596 12 s
1796
2967
11
4
1056
12
8
597 5
S
559 19 8
1797
2331
IS
10
104s
IS
6
615 S
2
666 2 7
1798
2523
3
1078
19
4
620 2
447 II
1799
2305
18
1054
4
S
755 16
6
5°4 9
1800
3665
4
10
1131
2
7
477 II
6
559 2 6
180I
3785
17
5
1116
2
6
479 II
6
557 10 4
1802
3297
14
8
1084
4
6
454 II
I
538 9 10
1803
2813
15
10
1056
IS
6
461 17
5
1020 2 7
1804
2784
15
10
922
18
6
414 12
2
584 4 8
1805
3312
5
3
95°
13
3
437 7
7
606 II 10
1806
3190
I
II
1093
II
6
439 I
I
S24 18
1807
3168
17
I
1 103
12
2
490 8
4
513 9 8
1808
3307
6
8
1039
16
I
485 4
488 8 II
1809
3758
17
9
1 148
16
II
549 9
6
529 13 9
1810
3624
12
4
946
13
4
575 6
0.
S6i 6 II
181I
3463
13
6
1076
II
558 15
3
729 14 4
Z 3
34
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL.
— APPENDIX
ANNUAL INCOME (
CONTINUED.)
From th<
From
Annual
From Donations
From
Endowment,
ber of
dren
the
Year.
Children's
Payments.
Subscriptions.
and Legacies.
Rents, Dividends,
less Annuities.
Numl
Chil
in
Sch
£
S.
d.
£
S.
d.
£
S.
d.
£ s.
d.
l8l2
3223
5
10
1185
6
983
3
1065 6
10
305
1813
3225
IS
10
1454
II
6
325
1112 6
2
304
1814
3244
II
10
1466
4
6
359
5
8
278 16
6
3°5
181S
3248
12
1248
13
6
207
2
655 19
8
305
1816
3237
19
9
1426
9
915
715 16
10
307
1817
3246
9
6
1151
19
6
1033
2
833 14
3
306
1818
3283
16
4
1374
4
268
1113 I
I
309
1819
3252
12
S
1321
9
493
6
I
674 7
I
304
1820
3228
5
3
1298
3
6
98
527 4
8
304
182I
3215
12
II
1217
7
6
567
II
581 18
10
303
1822
3250
17
6
115°
19
6
294
6
5
682 13
3
306
1823
3160
I
8
1028
19
9
613
4
9
775 19
7
300
1824
3080
12
6
1032
19
6
T07
983 12
302
1825
3°52
19
7
1264
13
237
lOOI 18
4
302
1826
3084
4
7
1202
9
3
290
523 4
9
3°S
1827
3041
13
8
1210
I
3
358
5
11
760 12
5
301
1828
2984
19
8
1036
14
6
6
6
1062 16
5
285
1829
2872
IS
II
1457
8
I
749
4
502 II
5
297
1830
3017
3
2
1109
10
I
953
661 3
6
295
183I
2976
14
3
1181
7
6
666
I
10
823 17
7
290
1832
2624
2
2
1158
19
6
381
826 13
5
264
1833
2724
IS
4
1168
19
9
199
10
783 9
4
269
1834
2743
7
II
1117
17
3
42
2
498 16
7
267
183s
2627
15
8
1288
IS
166
10
6
308 3
3
259
1836
2600
3
II
1309
12
10
577
10
880 II
7
256
1837
2721
8
2
1189
I
6
238
14
533 18
9
271
1838
2845
7
7
1296
10
397
1179 12
2
281
1839
2840
10
II
1194
17
6
692
16
884 16
4
282
1840
2848
10
II
1281
279
10
965 17
II
281
184I
28SS
6
4
1179
4
6
239
4
10
1080 10
3
283
1842
2757
2
10
1107
I
6
683
7
663 19
2
274
1843
2790
3
7
1222
13
6
61
10
911 16
9
275
1844
2722
7
1615
19
6
139
I
988 8
270
1845
2811
4
8
1283
9
790
16
1165 4
10
277
1846
2983
19
I
1257
6
6
700
2
1025 5
5
297
1847
2850
10
3
1185
I
425
18
8
roS4 15
4
289
1848
3075
2
4
1087
18
149
13
3
906 14
6
288
1849
3721
10
10
984
16
356
12
544 8
6
289
1850
3942
9
4
979
4
6
268
733 19
2
289
HISTORY
OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. —
APPENDIX
341
ANNUAL
DISBURSEMENTS (continued.)
Year.
For Provisions.
For Clothing
For Salaries
Wages.
and
For Repa
Depreciation,
TS,
and all
other I
icidentals.
£
s.
d.
£
s.
d.
£
S.
d.
£
S.
d.
l8l2
4018
16
2
1043
17
582
12
3
559
5
2
1813
4103
2
1033
19
II
536
14
9
690
16
I
1814
3409
10
8
1044
14
7
526
7
10
356
13
10
iSis
3356
II
5
1091
19
7
494
7
6
712
16
7
1816
297s
2
9
1037
5
6
465
19
3
642
10
10
1817
3757
19
1061
7
2
517
9
10
765
13
I
1818
3345
17
6
977
6
II
592
5
10
582
II
6
1819
3398
2
1 04s
3
10
568
16
9
726
12
II
18.20
3103
3
3
1020
15
II
610
19
10
465
15
II
1821
2920
3
7
952
4
3
626
8
4
689
3
3
1822
2414
9
I
962
6
10
816
19
10
651
6
3
1823
2388
14
4
886
18
824
16
8
801
9
II
1824
2674
18
8
878
14
6
935
13
10
836
II
6
1825
2961
19
I
910
18
6
841
13
3
911
15
8
1826
2932
8
8
915
2
I
871
6
2
785
4
9
1827
2846
2
6
915
I
5
943
18
5
784
13
7
1828
2594
16
9
852
II
948
2
5
768
2
9
1829
3091
IS
3
873
16
10
1145
10
984
14
5
1830
2619
8
9
893
3
10
909
854
II
4
1831
2981
II
8
930
15
8
1058
4
6
927
12
I
1832
2806
I
10
981
17
2
969
I
II
926
7
7
1833
2689
14
4
869
4
10
836
5
I
710
12
10
1834
2442
8
I
910
16
8
989
7
736
2
8
183s
2247
.8
964
14
5
872
I
2
629
9
1836
2246
17
3
929
12
3
850
17
II
737
15
5
1837
2591
7
2
843
2
7
866
13
5
613
4
8
1838
2663
15
8
889
8
6
829
8
sY.
820
I
1839
3062
10
0^
864
10
2
95°
10
dy.
738
18
6J^
1840
295s
4
812
12
4
lOOI
14
iV.
726
18
6>4
1841
2952
13
i>^
829
2
10
1003
II
5
752
15
4>^
1842
2843
19
9'A
774
8
3
1076
9
724
18
4J^
1843
2431
10
s%
803
17
7
1073
10
I
716
16
7
1844
2559
15
2
755
10
I
1089
3
8
775
9
4
184s
2566
15
6>^
813
7
3
1185
15
951
19
II
1846
2805
5
aV^
836
9
oy2
1263
19
873
6
2
1847
3008
17
7
1025
14
5
1499
19
7
1244
7
I0}<<
1848
2849
18
6
934
3
73^
1693
7
II
"43
16
2>i
1849
2603
8
■8
877
I
I
1720
12
10
957
5
2
1850
2467
10
900
5
I
1817
5,^^
916
18
10
342 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX
ANNUAL INCOME (continued.)
Year.
1851
1852
1853
1854
185s
1856
1857
1858
1859
i860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
From the
Children's
Payments.
£
4147
4334
4461
4368
4222
4130
4178
4257
4098
4103
4434
4487
4302
4360
431S
4286
4547
4442
4475
4461
s. d.
5 5
2 4
6 5
12
o
19
14 10
O 2
14
2
14
5263
5428
6164
6314
6776
5843
7281
7
6
4 6
8 4
3 8
17 II
3 I
3 4
8 o
6 o
15 10
10 4
5 8
3 8
16 8
6 o
18 10
12 2
6 o
From Annual
Subscriptions.
£
939
996
1002
984
993
i°35
1 149
1086
105 1
1046
1033
1041
1064
1041
1025
937
1024
958
I02t
958
947
976
927
995
1180
1059
i°3S
977
s.
17
6
I
4
2
6
II
12
13
18
II
5
4
12
4
7
15
19
5
18
18
o
10
4
14
I
5
5
d.
3
o
6
o
10
3
6
o
9
9
o
6
6
o
o
6
o
6
o
9
o
6
I
o
3
9
o
o
From Donations
and Legacies.
£
1342
30
177
1922
346
404
751
1044
1038
345
765
1064
153
323
399
979
543
423
231
579
1273
933
59°
940
883
199
1386
7°5
s. d.
18 10
o o
o
2
2
18
17
O
4
o
3
5
5
3
2
2
II
2
3
4
o
o
I
5
7
6
4
7
From
Endowment,
Rents, Dividends,
less Annuities.
£
820
806
1012
1042
1212
904
752
891
830
1007
1131
1092
1115
832
994
877
93°
779
946
730
1266
1041
1131
1129
1284
1092
1034
654
s. d.
8 II
5 2
10 4
3 8
3
2
19
19
5
I
2
17
16
10
19
19 10
13 5
8 10
o 10
6
IS
I
o
I
5
4
16
2
4
7
9
8
2
II
o
3
2
289
288
292
293
289
285
284
284
275
273
278
279
267
274
265
253
260
260
258
260
273
278
283
287
285
289
258
280
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX 343
ANNUAL DISBURSEMENTS (continued.)
Year.
For Provisions.
i
1
For Clothing. >
P^or Salaries
and
For Repairs,
Depreciation, and all
Wages.
other Incidentals.
£
s.
d.
^
s.
d.
£
s.
d.
£ s- d.
1851
2437
8
II
855
6
II
1790
14
8
940 3 7
1852
2547
2
4
762
19
II
1772
4
I
1107 13 3
1853
2822
18
10
833
10
II
1794
IS
6
1085 15 5
1854
3172
II
I
916
14
II
1854
9
7
1025 II 10
1855
3282
5
8
835
15
3
1787
9
II
1091 16 3
1856
3209
14
9
881
10
9
1885
16
II
959 II °
1857
3062
9
2
874
13
3
1963
4
8
945 II 3
1858
2732
9
881
6
I
199s
9
926 3 2
1859
2651
18
10
953
2
8
2057
6
5
99° 4 3
i860
3087
4
6
891
17
9
2081
17
3
967 7 7
1861
3156
2
7
926
3
6
2105
6
.
1063 16 8
1862
2849
8
4
945
6
5
2123
14
10
1244 9 8
1863
2869
14
6
891
12
2
2174
I
4
1202 I 9
1864
2908
7
I
850
IS
I
2172
1 1
7
1024 I
1865
3003
I
5
948
12
9
2238
18
6
921 8 3
1866
3272
6
879
8
6
2236
II
2
923 10 8
1867
3342
6
908
13
10
2297
19
II
967 2 II
1868
3159
9
4
678
17
4
2377
3
3
1089 IS 3
i86g
3120
15
5
742
I
8
2215
7
9
876 8 6
1870
3040
18
688
6
7
2117
13
3
1024 7 8
1871
3181
2
7
634
2
II
233s
10
6
1154 2 6
1872
3890
14
9
607
I
5
2449
6
3
1429 8
1873
4445
3
I
669
7
3
2634
17
10
1372 14 9
1874
4611
M
II
644
IS
2833
13
3
1532 II 4
1875
4631
II
3
645
I
8
2843
8
4
1536 14 9
1876
4297
9
4
577
19
8
2888
9
1482 7 4
1877
3938
13
532
14
2
2990
4
II
1866 3 II
1878
3995
6
6
568
7
3200
II
9
2397 16 s
344 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX
TABLE OF THE RAINFALL AT ACKWORTH,
FROM 1824 TO THE PRESENT TIME.
INCHES.
INCHES.
INCHES
1824
30-51
1843
26-26
1861
18-26
1825
24'22
1844
18-82
1862
21-83
1826
18-74
1845
27-06
1863
21-09
1827
25-04
1846
25-90
1864
19-75
1828
32-35
1847
20-50
1865
23.20
1829
22-85
1848
32-08
1866
29-87
1830
31-58
1849
23-33
1867
26-79
I83I
28-37
1850
16-95
1868
23-07
1832
24-94
1851
20-13
1869
24-68
1833
25-06
1852
28-75
1870
20-83
1834
23-74
1853
23-80
1871
26-20
183s
21-19
1854
19-04
1872
39-80
1836
25-21
1855
21-33
1873
19-07
1837
25-39
1856
30-56
1874
17-96
1838
25-02
1857
24-59
1875
28-79
1839
33-16
1858
19-84
1876
28-39
1840
24-75
1859
23-46
1877
35-18
I84I
30-81
i860
30-15
1878
No return
1842
22-63
HEALTH AND MORTALITY.
The above table naturally suggests the enquiry how far
excessive or deficient rainfall has affected the health of the
Institution. It would appear from such statistics of health as
exist that there is less direct connection between the rainfall
and the prevalence of disease than might be supposed.*
* For instance, in i860, a very wet and cold year, there were only 13
nursery cases against a current average of 30 to 40, whilst coughs and colds
were much less prevalent than usual. The year was cold throughout and
in the Twelfth Month the thermometer ranged very low and on the night of
the 24th reached 6 deg. below zero. In 1866, also a very wet year, there
were but 23 nursery cases and good general health prevailed.
"4^ If I-
^r ,:gV ',b
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX 345
Thermal conditions, especially when characterised by sudden
fluctuations, have probably exercised a much more considerable
immediate influence upon the standard of health. The greater
number of the throat affections, which at one time caused some
uneasiness, was due, in Thomas Pumphrey's opinion, to the
children's unavoidable exposure to sudden changes of tempera-
ture in passing from over-heated school-rooms to cold, draughty
passages ; and this has probably been a fertile source of colds
which often led on to more serious disorders. Since the active
era of improvements set in, some climatic influences have been
materially robbed of their power. The liberal increase of meat
diet, the introduction of warm baths, the substitution of boarded
for stone floors, better methods of warming and ventilating,
increased atmospheric content of the class-rooms, closer circum-
spection in reference to drainage, &c. and the abolition of the
practice of going, at six o'clock in the morning and often when
the ground was covered with hoar-frost, to the " old bath," the
water of which, a strong Chalybeate, was always excessively
cold, are only some of the improvements which have doubtless
influenced favourably the general health and which, by raising
the standard, have proportionately secured from the attacks of
disease.
It is, nevertheless, difficult, from the statistics preserved at the
School, to institute any very definite comparison of the state of
the general health at different periods, as the record is seriously
affected, from time to time, by changes in the method of regis-
tration. So late as 1867, the complexion of the register was
much changed in consequence of the adoption of the practice
of sending into the nurseries numerous minor cases of indispo-
sition amongst the boys which, prior to that date, had been
treated in the Matron's room and so not entered among the
nursery cases. Cases of indisposition not of a serious character,
amongst the girls, still continued to be treated by the Matron of
the West Wing, without being transferred to the nurseries. This
346 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX
circumstance complicates the question of the relative amount
of sickness amongst boys and girls ; but the number of heavier
cases was probably always much larger amongst the former
than the latter. An example of five years' experience, taken at
random, will show how much more numerously they appear
upon the Nursery Register : —
In 187 1, out of 92 cases, 79 were boys, 13 girls.
II 1872, II II 74 H 64 II II 10 'I
II 1873, II II 67 M 51 11 •! 16 II
II 1874, n M 78 11 61 11 11 17 M
II. 1875, " " i°7 " 58 II II 49 11
Much of this disparity is undoubtedly due to the much
larger amount of exposure the boys are subject to.
The number of cases appearing upon the register imme-
diately prior to 1867 was small compared with those just,
quoted. The average of the five years 1850-4 was 37, that for
the next five years 30, and that for the five following about 40
per annum.
By reference to the following table of the deaths which have
occurred during each ten years since the foundation of the
School, it will be found that there has been a considerable
diminution during the last few years; and the numbers are
probably not an incorrect indication of the relative state of the
general health of the periods to which they belong. Yet,
taking into consideration the supposed advantages of modern
times and the credit due to annual holidays, it will, perhaps,
rather surprise the reader that the early years present so favour-
able an aspect than that there should be so considerable an
improvement in recent times.
Whilst it is true that some disorders prevalent in the early
periods, such as small-pox, to which four of the deaths of the
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX
347
first decade were due, have passed away from ordinary calcu-
lation, Other diseases seem to have made their first appearance
in more recent times, as is the case with diphtheria, which in
the last decade but one accounts for four deaths out of six.
Rheumatism was apparently but little known in the older times,
whilst cases have been increasingly occurrent of late years.
Whilst during the ten years 1820-9 only seven cases are
reported, four times that number occurred in the four years
1872-5, twelve of which appear in the exceptionally dry year
1874.
The total number of deaths amongst the children, from all
causes, during the hundred years, has been 93. Distributed in
decades, they occur as follow : —
1779 to 1789
14
deaths.
1829 to 1839
10 deaths
1789 ,, 1799
II
11
1839 11 1849
9 "
1799 II 1809
8
11
1849 1, 1859
6 II
1809 11 I8I9
7
II
1859 " 1869
6 1,
I8I9 11 1829
17
II
1869 M 1879
5 "
57
During the first 50 years.
Of which 25 were boys
and 32 11 girls.
36
During the second 50 years.
Of which 17 were boys
and 19 11 girls.
The causes of death were as follow
Consumption
Lung abscess
Inflammation of the lungs
Malignant sore throat
Diphtheria
Inflammation of the bowels
Peritonitis ...
Colic
9
I
2
3
4
2
4
I
348
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX
Typhoid fever
Typhus fever
Fever
Scarlatina ...
Worm fever
Smallpox ...
Measles
Brain affections
Apoplexy ...
Convulsions
Rheumatism
Erysipelas ...
Affection of the spine
Accident ...
Total ...
5
4
3
13
2
4
3
15
3
2
7
2
I
3
93
MISCELLANEOUS DATES, &c., NOT MENTIONED
IN THE TEXT.
1797. — John Whitlark, of Finedon, in Northamptonshire, came
to school. He is probably the oldest Ackworth
Scholar now living. His school-days were a terror to
him and he was removed at twelve years of age. He
associates extreme severity, as its chief feature, with
the discipline.
1812. — Henry Brady enters on his apprenticeship.
1 81 2. — Sparks MoHne succeeds Wilson Birkbeck as Treasurer.
1813. — Thomas Brown enters on his apprenticeship.
1815. — A rule made by the Masters and recorded by minute
that " The boys are not to read any books but such
as are of a religious tendency on First Days, excepting
their 'Spelling Book' before breakfast and after
Meeting in the Afternoon."
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX 349
1 8 16. — William Doeg apprenticed.
1816.— The original " Juvenile Association " founded by
Robt. Alsop. First Meeting on the Ninth of Fourth
Month. Number of Members 20.
1816.— Elizabeth Rolfe died. She had been a >z^;^d7z«^, had
served the School for thirty years in the capacity of a
domestic servant and, at her death, left all her savings
to the School.
1820. — Leonard West, who had been, for thirty-eight years, the
Principal Tailor, expressed a wish to be relieved from
the most sedentary part of his employment, proposing
that such reduction should be made in his Salary as
might be deemed desirable in consequence of the
change. His request was allowed and his Salary
reduced from ;^28 to ^^20. He finally retired in 1829.
1822. — Matthew Downie, gardener from the commencement,
retires and is succeeded by James Jones.
1825. — John Morley enters on his apprenticeship.
1825. — Geo. Bottomley, Book-keeper.
1827. — John Newby terminates his apprenticeship and becomes
Writing Master at ;!^40 per annum.
1827. — Office broken into. Effects stolen to the value of jQ'^.
1827. — John Walker enters as House-man.
1828. — John Cash Nield enters on his apprenticeship.
1829. — Geo. Frederic Linney succeeds Leonard West.
1831. — Isaac Levitt comes as Chief Shoe-maker.
1832. — Thomas Hunton apprenticed.
1832. — Charlotte E. Giberne resided in the Girls' Wing for the
purpose of teaching French to the Girls' Teachers.
1832. — Wm. Clark, Surgeon, becomes the Medical Attendant.
1832. — Door made from the Grammar School into the Shed.
1833. — Thomas Atkins becomes Chief Carpenter in place of
Richard Smith.
1836-7. — Sale of Timber. ;^4o6.
350 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX
1 83 7. —Charles Barnard succeeds George Bottomley as Book-
keeper.
1837.— Robert Whitaker takes charge of the School, for some
weeks, whilst Thos. Pumphrey is from home.
1837.— Henry Wilson enters on his apprenticeship.
1838. — Picking twitch-grass abolished.
1838.— Thomas Puplett enters on his apprenticeship.
1838.— Walks "in schools " introduced. Not to be more than
one in three weeks.
1839. — William Cammage engaged as Farm-bailiff.
1840.— Introduction of Penny Postage, prior to which event
letters were regarded as of sufficient value to be
entered on the " Inventories " of the Children's
effects. Old scholars will remember how the Boxes
were examined periodically and how every "Inventory"
began "Box, Lock and Key, Two Cards of Advice," &c.
1841. — Robert Doeg leaves and is succeeded in old "Number
Three " by Till Adam Smith.
1841. — A great many Boys manifesting a great dislike to the
bath, the hour of bathing was changed from 5 a.m. to
II a.m.
1 843. — Henry Wilson's apprenticeship expires and he goes to
Bonn to study.
1844. — Charles Barnard leaves.
1845. — Large part of the Estate deep-drained.
1845. — High-topped Shoes or Ankle-boots adopted for the Boys.
1845. — Regulation made that Children might remain in the
School up to fifteen instead of fourteen years of age.
1845. — Magnificent Oak felled in Bell Close and sold for
£22 : I2S.
1846. — Joseph John Gurney gives his lecture on the Eye for
the last time in the Eleventh Month. He died in
the First Month of the following year.
1846. — Samuel Hare vacates the post of Book-keeper and is
succeeded by Wm. Burton.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX 35 I
1846. — The Museum belonging to " The Association " placed
in the Committee Room.
1846. — Marriage of John Nevvby and Maria Brown.
1847. — Wm. Mason, Chief Carpenter.
1848. — A "Mistress on Duty" appointed. Lydia Rous first
filled the post.
1852. — Edmund Wheeler gives his first course of lectures.
1852. — Study of Euclid introduced.
1852. — The "Ackworth Literary and Scientific Association"
established.
1854. — Henry Sparkes reports the completion of his Survey of
the Estate. His estimate of the Area was 274a. ir. 24p.,
being about half an acre less than that of Wm. Doeg.
1855. — Henry Sparkes takes charge of the Lower Classes.
Wm. Pollard takes the Ninth Class. John Watson
enters and takes the Eighth Class, and William Tallack
the Seventh.
1856. — Boys' Bedrooms Nos. i, 2 and 3 are boarded. One of
the Boys' Bedrooms for the first time furnished with
iron-beds. Shed-court asphalted.
1856. — Samuel Gurney, for 40 years Treasurer, dies.
1857
1857
1857
1857
1857
— Tenth Class furnished with new mahogany desks.
— Table-cloths supplied to the Girls.
— Forty Leathern or Fire Buckets procured.
— Fire in the Library. Damage ^16 los. 7d. Covered.
— James Kekwick resigns his post in the Office in order
to emigrate to Australia where most of his relatives
were settled. Sensible of its great loss in the retire-
ment of this Officer, the Committee states in its
minutes that " in accepting the resignation and in the
prospect of losing the services of a valued and highly
appreciated Officer, it would express its desire that
his best interests, as well as his temporal advantage
may be promoted by the change he has in prospect."
Dennis Davy succeeded James Kekwick in the Office.
352 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX
1857.— Joseph Wright, a very exemplary young man in the
capacity of junior teacher, dies from the effects of
gastric fever.
1858.— James Jones retires from the station of head gardener
in which he is succeeded by Samuel Peaker.
i860.— A pair of Rooks build in the Elms at the gate of the
Gt. Garden.
i860. — Drilling introduced, but confined to the four Upper
Classes on the Boys' side. Joseph G. Barclay, having
suggested it as an experiment, discharged the expense
of it for the first year.
1 86 1. — Maria King resigns the Office of Teacher of the Girls'
Tenth Class, which she had filled with great ability
and success for many years.
1 86 1. — Old Bath House turned into a dweUing.
1862. — The Corn Mill, near the old Bath, with ten acres and a
half of land, purchased for ^2000. This purchase
enabled the Committee to improve the sanitary con-
dition of the Stream-bed of the Canal below Car-
Bridge, by utilizing the Mill-stream as a cleansing
flush.
1863. — Hotel let to John Graham.
1864. — Double Beds abolished on the boys' side, except a few,
retained for brothers.
1864. — Gymnasium established in a shed, in the boys' gardens,
running along the wall of the high-road.
1864. — William Pollard's health breaking down, he is obliged to
retire.
1866. — ^Maria King returns. Takes the post of "Mistress on
Duty."
1866. — Penny Notes abolished, after being in use about 30
years.
1867. — An Exhibition of Works of Art, produced by old pupils,
held in order to stimulate the love of such pursuits.
1867. — Joseph Pease presents a Telescope and a Microscope.
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX 353
1869 — London Committee dissolved, at its own request.
Eight of its Members were placed upon the Country
Committee. .
1871. — "Adjourned General Meeting" abolished.
1872. — The Gas Works re-constructed at a cost of ;!^6oo.
1872. — Experimental utilization of Sewage introduced by
irrigation of the " Flashes."
SCENES ON THE PLAY-GROUND OF A SCHOOL.*
In the following lines, to show the incongruities of English
spelling, the second line of each couplet is spelled with the same
letters as the first.
'Twas a fine winter's day ; — their breakfast was doiie,
And tlie boys were disposed to enjoy some ^ooi^fone.
Sam Sprightly observed " 'Tis but just half-past eight
And there's more time for play than wlien breakfast is leight:
And as all agree that so cold is the morning,
We'll keep ourselves warm at the game of stag-worning. "
"I'm Stag ! " — with his hand in his waistcoat he's off,
And his play-mates are dodging him round the pump irqf.
Sam's active, but still their alertness is such
It was not very soon that e'en one he could tucA.
The captive 's assailed by jokes, buffets and laughter,
By the host of blithe boys quickly following aughter;
But, joined hand in hand, their forces are double.
Not for jokes nor for buffets care they a bmible.
* Thomas Pumphrey's skill in throwing off z^jeu d' esprit was well known
to his immediate friends and occasionally exercised for the amusement of his
young people. As an example of his happy pleasantries we here append
these lines. They were written for the pages of the "Phonographic Star" —
a periodical edited by John Newby — where their raison d'etre had a double
justification and where they were entitled "Illustrations of Orthography."
354 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX
All's activity now : for high is the sport :
Reinforcements arrive from the shed and shed-cori.
More are caught ; and their places they straightway assign
At the middle or end of the lengthening Bgn;
To break it some push 'with both shoulder and thigh
But so firm is the hold that vainly they /ri^A.
! 'Tis broken at last ! Now scamper the whole
To escape their pursuers and get to the ^o/e.
All are caught now, but one, of the juvenile hosts
And he, a proud hero, vain-gloriously iosis.
But hark !— the clock strikes i then by their rules.
They must quickly collect for their several schules.
We'll leave them awhile at their books and their sums
And join them again when the afternoon cums.
Now dinner is over Sam Sprightly, says he,
"Let us form a good party for cricket at thre."
Says Joseph "I wish you'd begin it at two,
For after our dinner I've nothing to dwo."
But Thomas, he'd rather 'twere fixed an hour later :
Because he's on duty as dining-room -water.
And so they agreed to meet punctually at four
On the Green, just in front of "Number One'' dour
And they thought they should muster no less than a scour.
Sam goes on recruiting — "Wilt' join us my hearty?"
"Yes," says Richard, "I'll gladly make one oi'Csxz pearty.^'
"Come Joseph, thou'lt join." Joseph languidly said
' ' I can't, for I've got such a pain in my haid,
1 think I should find myself better in baid. "
"There's Alfred," said Sam — "I know he will chqose.''
He said he was sorry the pleasure to loose,
But he was appointed to black the boys' shoose.
They next asked a boy of more sober demeanour—
But he's, too, in office — they call him "\vi\ie.-cleanoiir.^'
"Well, Jim, thou'lt go with us?" — "No, asking thy pardon;
I'd rather, by far, go work in the gardon:
For there we get pay — perhaps a nice root,
Or, what I like better, a handful of froot :
So I'll not enlist me — I'm not a recrooi/"
There's Charles ! — but alas I — Poor unfortunate wight,
He's confined in the Lodge — he regretted it quight
HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX 355
Though Frank 's a long lesson of grammar to learn,
He'll set it aside — not to miss such a tearn.
Some joitt in' the party, but some are too busy ;
One does not like cricket, it makes him so dtisy.
But no w there's enow : so, says Sam. ' "^irow my boys,
Just listen to me, don't make such a noys !
The Highfield 's the place and I do not despair.
If the teachers we ask, they will let us play thair.
So while I get the bats and the ball, I propose
That Alfred or Richard or somebody gose
And presents our request, making this a condition
We'll all be good boys, if they grant us permitiDn.'"
"Here's the ball — and the bats — just look what a beauty !
Well Taff, what reply from the Master on deauty ? "
" O ! Granted." — " That's right — that is capital news !
Indeed I knew well they would never refews. "
So now they're at play . . and X think you've enough
Of such spelling, such rhyme, such whimsical stough !
And, therefore, lest you 'gainst my verse should inveigh,
I'll bid you farewell ; leaving them to their pleigh. "
THOMAS PUMPHREY.
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